Tokyo Showdown
by Firehound427
Summary: Wanted crime boss Takashi Fujima has escaped police custody, and is now blasting towards Tokyo at 200mph in his Corvette ZR1 with an army of mercenaries in tow. The only thing standing between him and the freedom of Tokyo's docks is a band of men and women from Bokuto, as well as a former officer of the precinct. They're determined to stop Fujima from escaping Japan. Or die trying.
1. Most Wanted

Recently, I saw a trailer for an upcoming film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger called The Last Stand. I admit, this fic has been heavily inspired by that film. Obviously, I don't own anything, but the original characters used in this story. All brand names belong to their respective companies. This fic is written for enjoyment, not profit. No copyright infringement is intended. Anyway, I will be uploading this prologue chapter as a test to see if I should continue writing this story, and as a sneak peek should I decide to continue.

* * *

It was an eerie night. The police cruisers were lined up, forming a wall of steel across the highway. A group of police officers were standing behind the parked cars. The highway was closed, so no traffic was on this road. About 10 kilometers (6 miles) in front of them was a glow caused by the lights in the city of Osaka.

"So Akio." One of the officers asked. "Is it really true?"

"What is true Keiji?" Akio replied.

"Is... He... Really here?"

"Unfortunately." The elder Senior Officer sighed. "Yes."

* * *

They'd all heard the news. Takashi Fujima was a major crime boss, who had been wanted for drug smuggling, kidnapping, rape and even murder. He had been caught in Osaka after a long operation, and was due to stand trial, but had somehow escaped from the convoy that was transporting him. Now, the police had cordoned the city off, and had set up roadblocks such as the one Akio and Keiji were manning in the hopes of catching Fujima if he tried to run. No-one knew what he was up to right now. No-one knew what would happen. He already had a ridiculous charge sheet, and he had reportedly had ties to the Yakuza. This man would be desperate to escape custody, and with every city in Japan being issued wanted notices, that would mean that Fujima would have to escape Japan and head for another country. No-one in Japan would be able to touch him if he left the country, and there would be no guarantee that wherever he escaped to would even have an extradition policy with Japan. That's why they had to catch Fujima before he got out of Japan.

* * *

"Sir! Sir! We have incoming!" Akio heard a female officer shouting and took a look through some binoculars. Two SUVs were rolling towards the roadblock. They were running together, lights off, making them difficult to see in the blackout.

"Blacked-out American jeeps. Suspicious. This road is closed. Got any reports from the others Rena?"

"Yes. Roadblock 2 reported two vehicles matching the description ran the roadblock. The officers came under fire and were unable to pursue." Rena delivered the news.

"Did they see Fujima in one of the vehicles?"

"No. The windows were blacked-out, and the officers were taking cover from gunfire."

_Gunfire._ This was definitely Fujima.

"This is it." Akio ordered. "Keiji, get on the PA and order them to stop. The rest of you, get ready. Remember, we need Fujima alive to stand trial."

"Roger." The officers reached for their handguns, while Keiji reached inside a police car and grabbed the handset.

"Drivers." Keiji's voice echoed down the highway. "Pull over to the side of the road and stop. Continuing to drive will be seen as an act of resisting arrest, and you will be fired upon."

The SUVs did not stop, and the lights were switched on. The vehicles were definitely American, modified with lifted suspension, chunky tires and ram bars.

"Did that work?" Keiji asked as he marched back to Akio's side.

"No. That worked as well as spitting at them. Wait... What is that?" Several figures dressed in black were leaning out of the windows and sunroofs. "What, is that military grade weapons?"

Keij's danger instincts kicked in and the young officer dove for cover as the figures opened fire with automatic rifles and shotguns. The sound of glass shattering and bullets hitting metal mixed with the clicking and banging of the sound of the gunmen firing. Akio wasn't so fast to react and was hit with several rounds, falling to the ground. A few other officers were also hit.

"Akio! No!" Keiji yelled at his fallen commanding officer. The firing seemed to stop for a moment, and Keiji dared to peek over the hood of the car. The SUVs had moved aside to allow another vehicle to move through. It was a massive semi-truck, bearing down rapidly on the roadblock and with a massive plow to clear the way. Keiji knew that nothing short of another truck would be able to stop the big rig. With its current speed, there was less than ten seconds to react. There was no use in helping Akio, he was likely already dead. However, there was another officer who was still alive, and crouching behind a shot-up cruiser directly in the path of the truck.

"RENA!" Keiji yelled as he shoved the female rookie out of the way. He was just in time as the truck slammed into the two police cars at the center of the roadblock, tossing them out of the way. Another two seconds and Rena Mitsubishi would've been another name on the list of officers lost in the line of duty.

"Keiji..." Rena was speechless as she took a moment to recover from her near-death experience. The sound of the tossed police cars crashing back down onto the tarmac brought her back to reality, as the SUVs passed through. Thankfully, the occupants somehow did not decide to gun down the remaining officers.

"That was close." Keiji Nakamura panted after his own experiences. "Fujima is definitely here. Question is though, which vehicle is he in?"

Almost exactly on cue, a new engine note pierced the air. It was a bassy roaring sound, like an American V8 engine, with the added shrieking whine of a supercharger. Seconds later, a dark gray supercar flew through the gap in the block.

"That's him." Keiji took a moment to memorize the plate number, before he dashed to the only intact car and reached for the radio. "This is Nakamura, Roadblock 3 has come under attack. Several heavily armed hostiles shot up the block, several officers including Sergeant Nakamoto are down. A truck plowed through the block leaving a gap. Yes sir, a gray sports car has just come through the block. An American sports car, I think it's a Corvette. Yokohama plate, 300, 32-71. I think it's him. Dispatch Highway Patrol, and tell them to be aware of any vehicle drawing alongside."

* * *

"This is Satoya and Miyoshi, we hear you, just hang in there." Miyoshi put down the radio. The pair were sitting in their Land Cruiser SUV waiting for any unauthorized vehicles that might've got through the roadblock.

"You ready?" Satoya asked as he gripped the steering wheel.

"Yes." Miyoshi braced himself for the upcoming pursuit.

"You hear that?" The familiar V8 engine note signified the arrival of the supercar which sped past at 150km/h (93mph).

"There it is, the American sports car that was called in."

"Let's go." Satoya fired up the SUV and flicked on the lights. The siren wailed as the SUV accelerated to meet the muscle car.

"This is fast." Miyoshi was right, the pair had accelerated to 180km/h (112mph) to catch up to the fleeing car. Within moments, their headlights illuminated the gray supercar.

"This is Satoya, we have the vehicle in sight. It's a gray Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 matching the description of the vehicle seen fleeing the roadblock."

However, upon drawing alongside, Miyoshi saw a person in the passenger seat. "Isn't that... Assistant Inspector Kinoshita of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department?"

"It is." Satoya confirmed. "I heard she was on a trip to Osaka on some inter-department co-operation thing or something, until Fujima broke out and took her hostage."

"Damn. If Kinoshita's his hostage, the police will be certain to let him go. Come on, we have to catch him."

Suddenly, the Corvette accelerated. The tires squealed and the Chevy slipped and slid as a lot of horsepower was dumped on the road. The Corvette quickly found grip and shot forward, the American bullet reaching 230km/h (143mph) within a few seconds.

"Son of a... Drive!" Miyoshi urged.

"I'm trying! We're already at max speed!" Satoya reported, the Land Cruiser already maxing out at 180km/h (112mph). Miyoshi yelled in frustration and punched the dashboard as he stared helplessly at the Corvette's four circular taillights disappearing into the darkness.

"That's a Chevrolet Corvette, there's no way we'll be able to keep up with him. No car in Japan could keep up with that ZR1!"

"We are! Look!" Miyoshi pointed. Indeed, the Corvette was slowing down.

"What do you think? Think his speed is his undoing?"

"Whatever it is, I want to catch this guy. Get in front and slow him down."

The Corvette suddenly sped up as the Land Cruiser tried to overtake it. The American supercar had no problem keeping pace with the Japanese off-roader. With one big burst of speed, the Chevy opened a gap between it and the police SUV.

"Come on!" The Corvette spun around 180 degrees and drove backwards in front of the SUV. "Whoa!" The Land Cruiser was going at about the same speed as the Chevrolet. Miyoshi looked at the occupants of the car, seeing the faces of Kinoshita and Fujima. "Yep, he's Fuji... LOOK OUT!" The Corvette had been slowing down, and Satoya, heeding the warning, tried to stop. However, the Land Cruiser was unable to slow down in time, and the high-riding SUV ramped off the Corvette's aerodynamically-shaped front. The Land Cruiser did a barrel roll as it flew through the air. Both officers reached for something to grab onto as the SUV landed on its roof, scraping along before coming to rest upside-down.

* * *

Satoya coughed. "What the hell... Does the radio still work?"

"Hold on." Miyoshi reached for the radio. He could hear some police chatter, mainly about directing all available units to the scene of Roadblock 3. He exhaled, before he pressed the push-to-talk button. "This is Miyoshi, we tried to pursue the sports car. Fujima is driving the car, and he has a hostage. Send a tow truck to our position, we have wrecked while attempting to arrest the suspect. He's headed for Nagoya, inform local police. Approach with extreme caution, suspect has already resisted arrest. Also, inform the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department that he has Lieutenant Kinoshita as a hostage. He'll probably try to escape on a boat from one of Tokyo's docks. Finally, do not expect to catch him in a pursuit. Vehicle is a Corvette ZR1, engineered for extreme high speeds and will outrun anything on the roads."

* * *

Within a couple of hours, word had been put out to nearly all of Tokyo's precincts, and the message was now being delivered to the last one.

"Yes, this is the Chief of the Traffic Department at the Bokuto Precinct. What is it? What? It's Fujima? Go on... My god... WHAT? OK, OK, I'll put word out. I'll recall my best officers. It's still 4 in the morning, but they should be rested enough. But how am I supposed to tell them? OK. I'll try not to let you down." Kachou put the phone down, his face very pale.

"What is it Kachou?" One of the officers on early morning desk duty asked.

After a few moments, Kachou replied, "Put word out to our officers. I want them here within the hour."

* * *

In 45 minutes, the officers in the Traffic Division had been assembled at the precinct. Kachou stood in front of the assembled officers. "You may be wondering why I called you here at this time. You may have heard of Takashi Fujima." A few murmurs from within the audience. "Thought so... Anyway, he broke out of police custody in Osaka. A few roadblocks were assaulted and Fujima made his escape with a powerful sports car, and several mercenaries with heavy firepower. Questions?"

One hand shot up. "Kachou, why are we being told about this?" That voice belonged to Natsumi Tsujimoto.

"Fujima is currently headed for Nagoya, but we believe that he will try to reach the docks here in Tokyo to make his escape."

Another voice, this time of Miyuki Kobayakawa. "Apart from armed hostiles like in the Hachi-Ichi-Go incident, how come highway patrol units haven't been able to catch Fujima?"

"It's simple. Fujima is driving a fast car, a "Chevrolet Corvette ZR1." Are you familiar with this car?"

"Yes. It is a sports car made in America." Miyuki rattled off the facts. "The engine is a 6.2 supercharged V8 making 638 horsepower. It is capable of getting to 100km/h (62mph) from rest in just 3.5 seconds, and can reach a top speed of 330km/h (205mph). A person with a car such as that would be able to outrun any car on the road in Japan. If he could maintain a speed of 320km/h (200mph), he could be in this city within 3-4 hours."

"Impressive." Kachou then turned back to the rest of the officers. "We are to prepare for Fujima's arrival. There's a strong chance he's headed our way. Law enforcement officials have been unable to capture him, this will likely be our last chance to get him before he escapes by boat. He has brought a hostage with him: Lieutenant Kinoshita." The officers gasped. "It is likely Fujima will have brought the mercenaries that broke through the roadblocks just outside Osaka. They were reported to have military grade assault weapons and a few officers have been killed." An even bigger gasp. "That's why I want everyone to watch each other's backs. Patrol in groups of at least two and do NOT attempt to stop any suspicious looking American automobile without calling for backup. Dismissed!"

* * *

And so, as the officers filed out of the room and began preparations for Fujima's all-guns-blazing arrival, another American car was pulling into a driveway in a different part of Tokyo. The occupant got out of the Chevrolet Camaro, an American standing 6'4 and with hair as black as the night. As he locked his pride and joy, he walked to the house, unaware that he would soon be heading for a meeting with the policemen and women of the precinct he once served in, and which he resigned from after one operation went bad.

* * *

So what do you think? Please tell me what you liked, what I could improve on and whether I should continue with this story.


	2. Tokyo Express

Here's the second chapter. I would like to thank Grey Wolf4 for reviewing and giving me some feedback and ideas, as well as sending me a lot more Pms than I usually get.

* * *

Streaking through the night like a dart, the sleek Corvette ZR1 made its way down the deserted expressway. There were two occupants, one driver and one hostage.

"You're not going to kill me." Kinoshita suddenly declared from the passenger seat.

"You're right." Fujima replied while he guided the Corvette. "You're too valuable to me."

"But if you let me go, I'm sure we could negotiate something that works for you and us."

"I'm not letting you go. You're my ace card. You will guarantee me safe passage. Either the National Police Agency pay 3 billion yen or they let me go peacefully, or they never see their Assistant Inspector again." Fujima deliberately left out the part where he would kill Kinoshita as soon as they got to international waters.

All of a sudden, a bright light shone upon the road and upon the gray American supercar. Fujima looked in his mirror to see a helicopter behind the Chevrolet.

"Driver." The pilot declared. "Stop your vehicle. Come out with your hands up. Let the hostage go."

"You see that?" Kinoshita spoke again. "The chopper's onto you. There's no way you can outrun a helicopter."

"That's what you think..." Fujima's lips curved into a smirk. Suddenly, he slammed the gear shifter home and punched the gas pedal. 640 horsepower was once again transferred forcefully to the tarmac and both occupants of the Corvette were shoved back into their seats like a sumo wrestler had just sat on them. The Corvette shot forward, moving faster than the helicopter could go. Within seconds, they were at 320km/h (200mph).

"Holy crap!" The co-pilot yelled.

"Damn!" The pilot confirmed. "No wonder the ground units couldn't catch him."

"Two bikes and a GT-R, and this guy outruns them like they were in reverse." The co-pilot answered, recalling the highway patrol's previous attempts to stop Fujima.

"Damn right."

"But this is a helicopter, we have to keep up with him!" The co-pilot yelled as the Corvette raced farther away.

"This is a Bell 412 'copter, it can only go up to 260km/h (160mph)! That car cruises that that speed!"

"Dammit!"

* * *

Having outran the chopper, Fujima turned off his lights. He was now going almost blind, but as the road was straight and lightly lit, he didn't have to worry about crashing. Maintaining his high speed, he blew by a police speed trap.

"This is Chubu Precinct 9, what is it?" The dispatcher at one of Nagoya's police stations asked through her radio.

"Yeah, this is Speed Trap 7, I've got something. Some idiot is out here flying a plane at low level with no lights on."

"Roger, what's the speed reading?"

"Uh... 310km/h (195mph)."

Sweat drop. "I guess you're unable to take up pursuit... Hold on... Helicopter 4 reports they have just tried to apprehend Takashi Fujima. He managed to outrun the helicopter pursuing him. Last contact was reported just 8km (5 miles) west of your position."

"Thanks dispatch, it's probably him."

* * *

In a deserted parking lot off the highway, the Corvette sat there resting after its high speed run. Fujima sat there, secretly wishing he could dispose of Kinoshita and speed to Tokyo right now. He had to wait for his mercenaries to catch up to him. It would be worth it though. The mercenaries could clear him a path and he could shoot through to the docks.

Two Escalade SUVs pulled into the parking lot, and several men dressed in black combat gear and wielding Russian assault rifles and shotguns got out. Fujima got out of the Corvette, after making sure Kinoshita couldn't escape.

"What took you so long?" Fujima asked one of the mercenaries.

"We had to torch the truck. The jeeps haven't got license plates, but the truck has and the police probably got the plate number off that and your car."

"But the truck was stolen, and they probably wouldn't suspect us if they ran the plate number. How are we going to clear the roadblocks now?"

"We planned for that." He motioned for one of the mercenaries to get something out of the trunk of one of the SUVs. Fujima observed as the mercenary picked up an M2 Carl Gustav recoilless rifle. "We brought two of them and 25 shells. We can still lay waste to the police in front of us."

"You'd better." Fujima replied with venom in his voice. "Remember why I pay you Daisuke. You need to get me out of the country, and I need you to clear a path. If I get caught, I'll be going down for a long time. Assaulting a police officer, human trafficking, murder, you name it. If you want to keep your boss happy and your money rolling in, I suggest you do your freaking job."

"Yes sir." The sky was starting to get brighter. "The sun's coming up. I suggest we get a move on." With that, the gang got to their vehicles and moved out of the parking lot. The thunder would soon be rolling towards Nagoya.

* * *

A few hours later, in Tokyo, another Chevy was moving through the city. But this one was not part of the hostile gang. It was a red Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, a supercharged American muscle car. The Camaro rumbled through the city center, and right past a little police car. What sort of police car? A Honda Today.

"Did you see that?" Natsumi asked her partner as the Camaro rumbled out of sight.

"Yes." Miyuki answered. "A Chevrolet Camaro. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"There's only one person I know in all of Tokyo who would drive a Camaro. Could it be?"

"I don't know. There hasn't been a Camaro in the fleet since... He... Died." Miyuki's face went a bit solemn.

"Maybe it's worth investigating? I mean... I did manage to get a look at the plate." Natsumi offered.

"Did you?" Miyuki's face lit up a little.

"Well, it might be worth a shot. This guy Fujima managed to outrun a helicopter, and we're going to need some muscle of our own to get this guy." Natsumi reached for the police computer. "Let's see... A Shinagawa plate, 300, main numbers 27-12." She said out loud while she typed. "Running now."

"Come on... To be or not to be...?" Miyuki whispered, having a little hope that the name that would pop up would be someone she used to know.

"Aha!" Natsumi shouted. "The vehicle is a red Chevrolet. But you knew that, right? Anyway, the vehicle is registered to a... Wayne Crenshaw?"

The girl's faces now had looks of disappointment. "I guess it's not to be." Miyuki lamented.

"Come on, we were all hit hard by his death." Natsumi tried to comfort her friend. "He was one of the best officers in the station. He was everyone's friend. I can understand that you've held onto that little bit of hope that we might find him alive, but it's been two years."

"You're right. Anything about this Crenshaw?"

"Apparently, he worked as an engineer at Chevrolet's high performance division from 2004 to 2011."

"He must've worked on such projects as the Corvette Z06, Camaro SS, Monte Carlo SS, Corvette Grand Sport and the Corvette..."

"ZR1!" They both said in unison.

"So the guy can drive." Natsumi declared.

"And he's got a Camaro." Miyuki added.

"That's got him noticed. Think it's worth following this lead?"

"Maybe. If he's got performance driving skills and experience with high performance cars, not to mention he has one such car, I think we might just have a shot of catching Fujima." The mood inside the car was now that little bit brighter.

"Only problem is that his address is out of our jurisdiction." Natsumi said. "We'll have to wait until our duty is over, otherwise we'll be in trouble. And you know how much I hate paperwork."

Miyuki chuckled a little. "It's settled then. But how are we going to tell our colleagues? And Yoriko in particular?"

"The answer?" Natsumi replied. "We don't. Now, come on, we've got a patrol to complete." She mentally wrote down the address as Miyuki maneuvered their mini-pat out of the alley and onto the streets.

* * *

At the docks, the red Camaro ZL1 pulled into a parking lot next to a portacabin. The occupant got out, a 6'4 American with black hair and a faint air of military about the way he stood tall and walked purposefully. Getting inside the portacabin, the receptionist greeted him.

"Hey there Wayne." The receptionist smiled.

"Hey there Izuko." Wayne answered. "What's going on?"

"Well, the new guy's coming tomorrow. And that ship? It arrived at about 5 this morning. Twelve vehicles."

"Sure thing."

"Oh, and there was something interesting on the news this morning."

"Tell me."

"The police are trying to stop this guy called Takashi Fujima." That name sounded a tiny bit familiar to Wayne, but he brushed it off and motioned for Izuko to continue. "The police haven't been able to touch him. They say he's driving a Corvette ZR1. You familiar with that car?"

"Yeah." Wayne nodded. "Fastest and most powerful GM car ever. I worked on the ol' Blue Devil back when it was in development in '09. Incredibly fast in a straight line. Good luck to the police trying to catch it, they're gonna have a hell of a time trying to keep sight of it." He exhaled. "Well, I'll get moving. Ship's not gonna offload itself. See ya Izuko."

Outside, Wayne made his way to the big car carrier. His partner, Hank Douglas was waiting outside next to the vehicle ramp. Hank was a blonde American standing 5'10 and with blonde hair, and had served in the US Marine Corps. Wayne and Hank had become friends pretty quickly, as they worked well together and shared a passion for American cars. That was why they worked at the docks at this company importing American cars into Japan.

"Manifest?" Wayne asked.

"Here." Hank handed Wayne the list of vehicles.

"Let's see." Wayne's brown eyes scanned the list. "Pretty odd. These things are all black SUVs and light/medium pickups. Tahoe, Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, Yukon, Escalade, Suburban, Yukon Denali, Silverado 2500HD, Sierra 1500 Denali, Suburban and Silverado 1500."

"I know, right? Says they're all headed for Nagoya."

"Either a sudden craze for black American utilities has just erupted or this is a bulk delivery."

"What do you think, fleet?"

"If I was a fleet buyer, I probably wouldn't stretch to a Denali or an Escalade. Anyway, let's get these offloaded. You spot for me, I'll steer 'em out."

"You got it." Hank confirmed as he walked up the ramp into the car-carrier. "But I still think Clint Bowyer should've won the NASCAR Sprint Cup series this year instead of Brad Keslowski."

"Shut up." Wayne laughed.

* * *

Offloading took the rest of the morning. With Wayne steering the big American vehicles out of the ship, and Hank guiding him through, the twelve utility vehicles were lined up on the tarmac. When Wayne got out of the final vehicle, Hank gave him a high-five.

"Well, they're quite a sight." Hank remarked as he admired the vehicles. "You tested any one of them?"

"Nah." Wayne answered. "I worked at high performance, not the utility division. But I have driven a Silverado a couple of times, mostly when we were transporting vehicles to the test track."

"I thought you looked like a natural steering that 2500 out onto the tarmac."

"Though it could've just been you spotting for me."

After a lunch break, the pair spent the afternoon preparing the vehicles ready for transport, as the trucks would arrive tomorrow to take them to Nagoya. They also helped out another couple of crews offload their ships ("Mustang GT, Camaro SS, you think they'd notice if we took them for a spin?"), and performed minor repairs on vehicles damaged in transport or when offloading.

Soon though, the clock rolled to 5 o'clock, the end of their shift.

"Good day, huh?" Hank asked as the two walked to their cars.

"Yeah, but... I still can't help but feel suspicious about those vehicles we offloaded. Twelve utilities, all black and all going to the same place."

"Yeah, well, just be glad the owners are going to be getting high-quality vehicles. We helped with that."

"Well, see you around." Wayne said as he unlocked his Camaro ZL1.

"See you around too." Hank replied as he got in his Cadillac CTS-V.

* * *

On the road back home, Wayne thought about the vehicles he helped to deliver to Japanese soil. Where were they going? Who would be using them? Why were they so similar? What was their true purpose? Wayne shook these thoughts off. He was just the guy who offloaded the vehicles. He accelerated a little, listening to the supercharged V8, before letting the Camaro settle back into a calm cruise.

Up ahead, there was a sports car in the left lane. A vehicle enthusiast, Wayne could identify what the car was. "A Toyota Sports 800. Classic little sports car. Nice shade of blue too. Now why does that seem a little familiar... Ah, it's probably just me getting the thoughts I get when I see a car I like. Besides, I prefer my ZL1. That thing is so tiny."

The Toyota went off onto another street, leaving Wayne and his Camaro to drive home in peace. After steering the muscle car onto his driveway, Wayne collected his thoughts as he locked the ZL1 and stepped inside his home. "Fujima's escape, those black American SUVs and pickups, and that blue Toyota. Why do I get the feeling something big's about to go down here?"

* * *

That concludes another chapter. As usual, feedback is appreciated.


	3. Revelations

Now then, time to establish another major player in the game. I suspect most criticism of this chapter will be leveled at my original character. Let's get on with this chapter.

* * *

While sipping at his soda, Wayne heard a knock at his door. He got up and walked over to his window. There was a female standing about 5' 3 with long black braided hair standing next to his Camaro ZL1 and admiring it. The knocking was heard again, and Wayne decided not to waste any more time. He strolled over to the door and slid it open, his eyes meeting those of a 5'4 brunette. Both eyes met each other's, the woman amazed at the face she hadn't seen for two years. Only one mutter escaped from her lips.

"Fortnell-san..."

* * *

"Come on Miyuki..." Natsumi complained from the passenger seat of her partner's sports car. "This detour for groceries had better have been worth it."

"With your appetite, any trip to the grocery store is worth it." Miyuki answered as she scanned the neighbourhood for any sign of the red muscle car the pair had seen earlier.

"Oh, so because I'm me... Hey, look!" Natsumi suddenly pointed out. Miyuki saw the red Camaro parked in one driveway, and parked her sports car on the street in front of the house. "Think it's him?"

"Positive. I'd know that car anywhere." Miyuki replied.

"Maybe it'll be worth it after all." Both women got out of the blue Toyota. Natsumi walked over and knocked on the door, while car-nut Miyuki started admiring the Chevrolet.

"Nice..." Miyuki whispered to herself as she looked inside the red muscle car.

"Come on..." Natsumi knocked on the door again. Within ten seconds, the door slid open. Natsumi's eyes met those of the person she never expected to see again. The person was a 6'4 American with black hair and brown eyes, very much like a person she used to know. In fact...

Natsumi gasped ever so slightly at the sight. She muttered one word. "Fortnell-san..."

* * *

Inside, the two policewomen could not believe their eyes. Their former colleague who they though had been killed two years ago was alive and well, and making a living under an alias

"So. Tell me why you guys are here." Wayne asked the two women as they sat on the chairs.

"We have a situation." Miyuki briefed. "There's a violent fugitive making a run for the docks."

"And how am I supposed to help out?" Wayne asked.

"Because you're Officer Tom Fortnell, one of the best police officers in the Bokuto station." Natsumi explained.

"I'm Wayne Crenshaw, and I work at an import company in the docks." Wayne responded.

"Come on Tom, stop lying to us." Miyuki spoke. "You look just like Officer Fortnell, you speak like him..." She looked to the ZL1 on the driveway. "And you're the only person I know in Tokyo who'd drive a Camaro."

"I saw the news reports." Wayne answered. "Fortnell was declared missing, presumed dead two years ago."

"But you didn't see the news reports." Miyuki pleaded. "Because you were there. You were shot and left for dead. We're here now. You don't need to lie to us anymore Tom. We know you're alive. Besides, you wouldn't lie to your old buddies, right?"

Tom sighed. "So what do you need me for?" He asked.

"Takashi Fujima." Natsumi took up the briefing. "Crime boss, wanted for rape, murder, human trafficking, among others. Heard of him?"

"Yeah, I've heard of him." Tom nodded.

"We haven't been able to catch him."

"So why do you need me?"

Miyuki piped in. "First off, he has a hostage. You remember Assistant Inspector Kinoshita?"

"Yep."

"Fujima's got her in his car so either we pay up the cash or we leave him alone. If we fool around, she's dead. You used to be one of our best officers, and it would be nice to have you back. The precinct hasn't been the same since you left us."

"What next?" Tom asked.

Natsumi took over the briefing. "Two, he has an army of mercenaries travelling with him. These guys are shoot-to-kill types, maybe special-ops. They have military grade automatic weapons, and they will blast through any roadblock we set up."

"Vehicles?"

"Seems to be black American jeeps."

"Hmm." Tom searched his memory. "We had a shipment of vehicles today. All black, all American, all bound for Nagoya. There's something off about that."

Natsumi faced Miyuki. "Think that's for them?" She asked.

"Maybe." Miyuki replied. She then turned to face Tom again. "Finally, three. Fujima is driving a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. If you're still the car enthusiast I remember you as..."

"Hell yeah." Tom replied. "I know about that ZR1. It's faster than any patrol car, faster than any police bike, and faster than any helicopter."

"We kind of knew about that last part." Natsumi commented. "Just this morning, Fujima managed to outrun a pursuing helicopter."

"Good luck keeping up with his dust."

Miyuki resumed speaking. "You're one of the best drivers we have Tom. You could give me a run for my money. And that Camaro out there?" She pointed to Tom's ZL1. "That car's the only one here with enough muscle to stand a chance of keeping up with that Corvette."

"So then?" Natsumi asked. "Are you going to help us catch this guy?"

"Hmm..." Tom looked deep in thought. "I dunno. I left that life behind long ago."

"But... You can still come back!" Natsumi pleaded.

"Everyone in the precinct thinks I'm dead. Let's take it back to two years ago..."

* * *

It was June 2010. Tom and the others were gearing up for a raid on the building. "Remember guys, stay sharp." He instructed as he put on his flak jacket. "Fujima's likely to have gang members inside. From what we've been hearing, they're likely to have submachine guns. Move fast, we need to get that hostage back alive."

"Hai!" The other officers replied.

Outside, the team, plus some SAT officers were ready to breach. Someone tapped Tom on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" He whispered.

"Thought you might like this." The SAT operator handed him an M4 Carbine.

"Thanks bud." Tom loaded the M4. "I used to use this all the time in Afghanistan."

"Maybe you'll transfer to the SAT when you're done?" The operator asked.

"I dunno. I might stick with the traffic department."

"Ah well. Hope you still shoot well."

"Better than you think." Tom gave an OK sign. Ken nodded, and both men kicked in the door. Two masked men with MP5s looked up, and got taken out by shots to the legs.

"Two down!" Tom reported.

"Take the left side!" Another SAT operator reported.

Tom, Miyuki, Natsumi and Yoriko advanced up the left side. Going through another door into a bedroom, Tom's flashlight illuminated a young woman panting, her blouse ripped and the sheets wet.

"We found her!" Tom said through his radio, before going to help the woman. "You OK?"

"I... I think so..." The woman replied.

"Good, you're safe now."

The woman was Ami Kasamatsu, one of the new policewomen transferred to the department. She had been kidnapped by masked men similar to the ones who had been shot in the legs. Tom felt responsible for her taking and had been a major figure in the investigation. They had eventually tracked her down to this building in downtown Tokyo.

"Bed sheet's wet and her uniform's ruined." Yoriko pointed out. "You think...?"

Tom looked into Ami's blue eyes. Those eyes looked terrified, seeking protection in the big American. There was no doubt about what had happened.

"Got a note here." Natsumi declared. "This is what happens if you cops poke your nose into private business."

"Hoo-ah." Tom then spoke on the radio. "What about you guys?"

"House is almost clear..." Shouji then yelled. "Wait! I see a man running! He's going for the roof!"

"Got it." Tom picked up his M4 and hurled it to Miyuki. "Fire support. I'm going after the guy. He's mine."

"Roger!" Miyuki yanked the charging handle on the rifle. She couldn't help but wonder though if Tom knew what he was getting into.

Tom wasted no time in running out of the room. A man ran past, no doubt the runner Shouji reported, and Tom took up pursuit. The man ran up some stairs, and Tom followed.

Up on the roof, the man realized that there was nowhere to run, unless he wanted to jump off the roof that was three stories up and try his chances in an extended foot pursuit.

"Give up!" Tom yelled. The masked man replied by turning around and throwing his fist at the American. Tom blocked it, then hurled his own fist into the man's face. Soon, they were locked in a fierce battle. The man swung three left hooks at Tom's face, sending him sprawling, before he recovered and slammed a powerful upper punch into the suspect.

Miyuki dashed onto the roof and looked through the aiming sight of the rifle. The fight was continuing and it was hard to know who had the upper hand.

"I've got them fighting on the roof." She said.

"Confirmed." One of the dispatchers replied. "Can you intervene?"

"I don't know. Tom looks like he can handle it."

The suspect punched Tom hard in the face which knocked the American back, until he ran back and delivered a couple of light punches to the man.

"I don't see an end to this. I've got a rifle, what do I do?" Miyuki asked.

"Can you get a shot on the suspect?"

"Negative, I don't know if I can shoot him without hitting Tom."

The fight was still brutal. Tom was now blocking the suspect's multiple blows, before he replied with a punch of his own to the suspect's chest.

"This fight's been going on for long enough. Intervene if you can."

"Roger." Miyuki put down the M4 and started to move towards the fight to break it up. However, as Tom sent the suspect reeling with a hard punch, the man dragged out a 9mm pistol and fired a single shot without aiming. The shot hit Tom in the chest and he staggered backwards. Miyuki and Tom made eye contact one last time before Tom fell off the side of the three story building and to his supposed death.

* * *

"No one in the precinct knows I'm still alive." Tom spoke. "I realized then that I was probably no longer wanted in the police department. I felt it was time to let you guys take the spotlight. Besides, there's a saying in Japan. "The nail that sticks out gets hammered." I was probably going to be fired someday. A passer-by helped me to escape, and helped me to set up a cover identity. Ever since, I've been living life as Wayne Crenshaw, a former Chevrolet engineer who moved to Japan to work for a company importing American cars into the country."

After hearing the truth, Miyuki spoke first. "Why didn't you return to us?"

"I realized that I could turn my life around. Tom Fortnell was supposedly dead. I figured that I could do good in another way. I didn't have to kill anyone or arrest anyone, or make anyone suffer. I could help out by bringing someone's new pride and joy into the country. I couldn't do it as Tom Fortnell, police officer and former soldier, now killed in action. But I could do it as Wayne Crenshaw, import worker and former engineer, and very much alive. And that is why Tom Fortnell has been dead for two years." Tom finished his confession.

"But you were not dead." Natsumi countered. "After hearing your side of the story, we realized that our colleague and best friend had been alive all this time. You have no idea how hard your supposed death hit everyone in the precinct."

"I just can't go back. No-one comes back from a two year death."

"Will you please cut it out with the death crap?" Natsumi said, her usual strong tone starting to creep through. "Fujima's coming through here and his mercenaries are probably going to kill us all. You still care about us, right?"

That hit Tom hard. He exhaled, knowing his defense was starting to fall apart.

"At least think about it?" Miyuki pleaded. "You're one of the only chances we have to catch Fujima. And you were one of our best friends."

The policewoman duo got up to leave. Before they got out the door, they turned around, as if to ask for his final answer.

"We need you Tom. We need you..." With Miyuki's begging words, they were out of the door. Tom sat back down on the chair.

The memories of his time in the police department flooded back. The first time he met Natsumi and Miyuki, the time they caught the red dress slasher, and busting up the car smuggling ring. In that operation, he'd been involved in a wreck, and went off the grid to investigate a lead that suggested a terrorist attack. That meant he was one of the first to know about the attack on the Bokuto Precinct by attackers looking for the Hachi-Ichi-Go plan, and he'd raced back to the station and back into the lives of the police officers as he helped to solve the plan and bring Emoto into custody. The memories kept flooding back, until the man sitting in the room of the house was Tom Fortnell. The few things left of his Wayne Crenshaw identity was his Camaro and his employment at the import company.

There was now an important decision to make. Would Tom go back to the police department, revealing the truth about his supposed death and taking a stand alongside his former colleagues; against Fujima? Or would he return to being Wayne Crenshaw, leaving Tom Fortnell in the grave and leaving the police to fend for themselves? Important decisions would be made that would affect Tom's life, and those of the people who were once his colleagues, his friends. Many things were at stake here: The lives of his former buddies, the life of the hostage in the passenger seat of the Corvette, the freedom of the most wanted fugitive in Japan... But right now, it was six o'clock. Tom decided to make the decision tomorrow. Tonight, he would go out and think the situation over, weigh up his options, and try to rediscover the man who died on that fateful day two years ago.

* * *

Oh boy, I know I'm going to get flamed hard for this one...


	4. The Dark Side

Thought I'd whack this out for my birthday on December 13th. I'm pretty sure you guys would want to see a bit of Fujima's side of the story. I've also got a new cover for this story; hope you like it!

* * *

Inside the warehouse in Nagoya, Fujima scanned his surroundings. His black Asian eyes took in the sight of the mercenaries buzzing around, some working on the new vehicles, some loading the M2CG Carl Gustav recoilless rifles, and some taking orders from Daisuke Sato, the leader of the mercenaries. One particular mercenary was staring at the Corvette ZR1, sitting there gleaming in the lights, and got a light punch on the arm for his trouble.

"Right now, we are building our strength." Fujima muttered to himself. "We are gathering men and supplies. Soon, we will be ready for our final assault on Tokyo." He smirked as he let his kind wander to the events of the previous night.

* * *

"Our prisoner is wanted crime boss Takashi Fujima." The NPA Sergeant briefed the crew of the prisoner convoy. "We need to get him across town to a maximum security prison. Whatever you do, do not stop for anything. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir!" The policemen and women in the garage shouted in unison.

"We will have roadblocks stationed at exits out of Osaka in case he tries to make a run for it." The Sergeant then turned and walked towards his car. "Who knows what might happen." He got inside the car, shutting the door and turning to the woman in the passenger seat. "Kinoshita?"

"Yes?" Assistant Inspector Kinoshita asked.

"Are you sure about this? Coming all the way here from Tokyo to supervise the convoy? Putting yourself in harm's way?"

A sigh, then, "Fortnell was one of my best officers, and he died trying to bring Fujima to justice. He would've wanted me to continue his work. I need to see this through."

"OK..." The Sergeant saw he had failed in his mission to get Kinoshita to back out of this risky operation. Looking in the mirror, he saw the prisoner guard give a thumbs up, confirming that Fujima had been loaded into the prisoner truck.

* * *

Outside, the convoy sped its way through the nighttime streets of Osaka. There were two police cars in front, with an SUV containing several officers behind, then the prisoner transport truck, and then another police cruiser and the unmarked car containing Kinoshita and the NPA Sergeant tailing the convoy.

"Seems suspicious..." The Sergeant muttered.

"What?" Kinoshita questioned.

"Haven't been any bad guys." True, they'd been travelling for ten minutes. Going was a little slow in the city.

"You're right." Kinoshita agreed. "Fujima's got enough muscle to put serious bad guys on the payroll. Who knows? They could be planning something right now..."

They travelled for another five minutes, before the radio came alive. "Obstruction ahead! Obstruction ahead!"

"Obstruction? What is it?" The Sergeant asked.

"Car crash, at the intersection."

"Can we go around it?"

"Negative, it's such a big pileup, it's completely blocked the intersection, all routes blocked."

"All routes?"

"Positive. We're holding position."

The Sergeant got off the radio. "Car crash? On our route? How come I wasn't informed of this? Unless... Wait... A car crash to make us halt...? Oh damn, it's a..."

Suddenly, two black Cadillac Escalade SUVs came speeding in, screeching to a halt in front of the lead police cars. Several black figures jumped out of the vehicles and pulled out automatic weapons.

"Oh sh..." One of the officers cursed before the gunfire erupted, and he got hit with several rounds. The young female officer in the passenger seat ducked and screamed as shots flew through the air. Policemen got out of their cars, the ones who decided to duck behind their cars were lucky; the ones who ran out into the street were gunned down.

Two officers leapt out of the trailing patrol car and ran to the prisoner truck.

"Confirmed, we have been ambushed and are under fire!" The Sergeant yelled into his radio.

The two officers managed to get the rear doors open, and took in the sight of the black-clad prisoner guard and Fujima inside the truck.

"Come on! We have to get out of..." The officer never finished his sentence as both policemen were hit in the head by gunshots.

"Eh?" Fujima was confused as to why the prisoner guard would suddenly shoot two fellow officers like that, until the guard turned back to Fujima and lifted his balaclava. "Daisuke?"

The mercenary leader nodded. "You think I'd let you down boss?" Fujima now knew what the gunfire was all about. "Come on, let's go."

The pair ran out of the truck. Seeing this, the other mercenaries ran towards the fleeing prisoner and their boss, continuing to hurl gunfire at the stricken convoy.

"Into the building!" Kinoshita shouted, seeing their prisoner running into a tall building.

"I see...! AGH!" The Sergeant got hit in the chest with several bullets and fell to the floor. Kinoshita tried to run out in pursuit, but had to duck as a couple of mercenaries shot in her general direction.

In the middle of the dramatic escape, the female officer in the lead car had stopped screaming, and judged it safe enough to rise up. She looked over at the now dead driver, and then at the radio. With shaking hands, she pressed the button on the radio and spoke with a very shaky voice.

"Th-This is... Patrol Ca-Patrol Car Nine... We have been... Ambushed by... By armed hostiles. Several officers down... It looks like a warzone down here... Fuji-Fujima's escaping... Please send backup."

* * *

Up on the roof of the building, the mercenaries had already attached zip-lines to the roof of the next building. Fujima, Daisuke and a couple of mercenaries hooked up to the zip-line and zipped through the gap to the adjacent building. This may have seemed random, but this building was picked for a good reason: Inside was the General Motors Japan Car Show.

Kinoshita watched in slight disbelief as the four men zip-lined to the other building. The mercenaries on the street stopped firing and got back in the Escalades, backing away from the wrecked convoy. Kinoshita made a dash for the building, frantically trying to call headquarters on her cell phone and putting it to her ear as she ran.

"This is Lieutenant Kinoshita! Fujima's escaped!" She yelled as she entered the car show.

"Fujima's what?" The operator asked in disbelief.

"He's at the car show, he might be trying to find a way to escape!"

"Copy." The operator reached for the radio. "All units, we have an escaped fugitive making a run for it. Be on the lookout." He then went back to the phone. "Find him!" He shouted.

In the car show, Fujima scanned around the show. All new Chevrolets and Cadillacs were on display for the Japanese public to see. Finally, he found what he was looking for.

Chevrolet were showing the all new 7th Generation Corvette for the first time in Japan, and the Vette stood there, camouflaged as the new Chevy hadn't officially been unveiled. Alongside was a current 6th Generation Corvette ZR1, gray with black wheels, ready to pounce. It was the fastest ever GM production car, and perfect for outrunning anything short of a fighter jet. Fujima tapped Daisuke on the shoulder and then nodded at the ZR1, before dashing off to the restroom.

Kinoshita had finally managed to run into the exhibition hall and looked around at the people and the cars, desperately trying to find the escaped fugitive. All of a sudden, there was the sound of people screaming. Kinoshita dashed to get a good look, and took in the sight of people ducking, and a tall man with a big revolver standing next to a grey supercar. She started running towards the scene, only to get tripped up and fall onto the floor. As she rolled over to try to get back up, she saw a handgun being pointed at her.

* * *

Fujima walked out of the restroom, having changed out of his prison jumpsuit and into a black t-shirt, leather jacket and cargo pants. As he strolled towards the Corvette, he saw one of the mercenaries standing there, pointing his P226 pistol at a policewoman lying on the floor.

"Hey Fujima." The mercenary said. "Caught this one trying to tackle the boss." He cocked his gun. "What do you want me to do? Drop her?"

Fujima had an idea. "No." He shook his head. "She's too valuable. I've got something in mind for her." He bent down and picked up the woman, walking towards the ZR1. Daisuke nodded as Fujima approached the American supercar. To the crime boss' amazement, the door opened without fuss. He dropped the woman into the passenger seat and clicked the seatbelt. "Now be a good girl and stay right there or I will not hesitate to have you shot. Clear?" The woman simply scowled.

"Here." Daisuke threw the keys over to Fujima. "Drive safe."

Fujima walked over to the left side of the Corvette. He did not understand why the Americans had to drive on the left side of their cars, when the Japanese did perfectly fine driving from the right side of the cabin. However, he did not care what side he sat on, as long as he got away from the police.

Jamming the key into the ignition, he twisted it and listened to the powerful supercharged V8 engine roar into life. Guiding the shifter into first, he steered the Corvette off the stand and into the backlot. People were surprised to see the car moving, but quickly got out of the way when Fujima gunned it and the 638 horsepower catapulted the ZR1 through the hole of the opened loading bay door and out into the night.

Daisuke was about to walk off out of the building, when he heard something and turned his head to look at a man calling the police on his cell phone.

"Emergency. I'd like to report a stolen vehicle. Yes, it's a gray Corvette ZR..." There was an almighty bang as Daisuke pulled the trigger of his Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolver, sending a powerful .500 Magnum round straight into the head of the man and dropping him like an animal. He casually marched away, ignoring the screams and shouts that echoed throughout the exhibition hall.

Meanwhile, out on the road, Fujima was racing along, trying to get out of the city. He fell in behind the two Escalades as they drove up onto the highway. As per the agreed plan, the Escalades would drive ahead and clear a path through the roadblocks, and then Fujima was blast through and outrun any pursuers with his newly acquired Corvette ZR1.

And so, as he raced through the hole created in the roadblock, Fujima's mind returned to the present day.

"Hey boss!" One of the mercenaries suddenly called.

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" Fujima replied as he walked over.

"I was wondering..." The mercenary spoke. "Where exactly am I going to be going?"

"I'm deploying you and a few others to Tokyo." Fujima stated. "Lay low. When we come through, be ready to strike from within..."

* * *

Pretty good, huh? I hope so... Anyway, I will now go through the previous chapters and start improvement work on them. I know it might disappoint you to find out that the next chapter will be slightly delayed, but I can assure you that I will do everything I can to make sure your criticisms are addressed and this story is made as good as it can be.


	5. The Return

It's almost Christmas, so I decided to push this chapter out! I know writer's block sucks, but I'm still going to try to make this as good as possible.

* * *

The next day, Tom drove to the docks and got out of his Camaro. He walked into the office, Izuko greeting him as he went.

"So then, what is it today?" Tom asked.

"Paperwork." Izuko replied, handing Tom a bunch of papers.

"Yipee..." Tom looked through the files.

"Bunch of vehicles coming here in a couple of months. Boss wants these processed now, 'cause this is our first shipment from Europe."

"Lemme guess, bound for Yanase downtown?"

"Yep."

Tom scanned through the papers. "Whew... Real nice cars." Tom put the papers back in order. "Well, better get to it."

"Good luck Crenshaw."

"Yeah..."

* * *

At his desk, as he was signing the paperwork, Tom was thinking about the 911. He'd encountered an officer in his old TMPD days who drove a Porsche, a real rich kid. The kind who only wanted to join the police to further her social status. Yoriko had managed to beat her through the sheer luck she always had and the kid wasn't having any of it. They'd run into her a few times, with challenges ranging from ticketing violators to fighting with paintballs. Yoriko may have been technically beaten, but she'd managed to luck her way through every time.

Tom's train of though was interrupted by a man walking through the door. He was in his twenties and wore glasses. The new guy.

"Hello." The new guy greeted.

"Hey there." Tom replied. "So you're the new guy, huh? I just gotta get this paperwork sorted and then I'll show you the ropes. May want to stick around because I've been here two years and that's two more than you've been here. Make yourself comfortable." He pointed to the couch at the end of the room. "Turn on the TV if you want, I'm gonna be about 10 minutes."

"Sure." The new guy flopped down on the couch, while Tom got back to signing more papers.

The new guy had indeed turned on the TV, and was now watching TBS News.

"Breaking news." The reporter announced. "With Takashi Fujima still on the run, we see camera phone footage shot at the moment the wanted crime boss made his daring escape from a police convoy." Tom turned to look at the TV. "Plus, camera footage from the moment Fujima outran a police helicopter. He's the fastest thing on the road, so fast nothing the police have can stop him, and he's got gunmen who mean business. When is he going to stop? Who is going to stop him?"

"You know, I like watching the news." The new guy remarked. "I enjoy keeping my eyes on the city."

Eyes on the city. Those words bounced around inside Tom's head and brought up a few memories from his police service when a few people he knew had said those words.

* * *

_Tom stormed into the traffic department office._

"_Hey look bud." He spoke. "I'm going out there. That dress slasher needs to be caught, and I'm backing up my buddies. You don't like it, then the hell with you." He turned around to walk out. "I'm going out to get my eyes on the city."_

* * *

_Strikeman laughed at the poor rookie who had failed to hit his pitch. Natsumi was very angry at the vigilante baseball fan, while Tom was looking around for an air rifle to shoot his next ball out of the sky._

"_You've got your eyes on the city, when they should be on the ball!" He yelled. "Don't come back until you find the true meaning of justi... OOF!" Tom had had enough and simply punched him in the face._

* * *

_Tom was busy helping a couple of lost tourists when Miyuki marched up to him._

"_Hey, Tom." She patted the American on the shoulder. "We need to get eyes on the city, that Z has just been spotted."_

* * *

_Tom leaned back in the seat of his Camaro police car. He stared out of the windshield, trying to process what the crew had got up to while he was off the grid investigating the Hachi-Ichi-Go plan._

"_Tom?" Natsumi said from the passenger seat of the Camaro SS. "Tom. Eyes on the city Tom!"_

* * *

A few more memories of Tom's police days played like a movie trailer until the new guy's voice derailed his train of thought.

"Is there anything I can do for you sir?"

Tom turned to face the new guy, determination in his face and in his voice. "No." He answered. "This is something I have to do myself." With that, he got up and went into the locker room, leaving the new guy alone in the office.

"Well, I might as well go do some of his paperwork." He got up and strolled over to Tom's desk, sitting down in the chair. He scanned through the paperwork until Tom walked back in the room.

"I decided to do your paperwork for you." When he didn't get an answer, he looked up. "By the way, I never did catch your name."

Tom turned around, and the new guy scanned the American. He was now sporting black wrap-around sunglasses, a black and red ZL1 cap and a flashlight clipped to his belt.

"Tom Fortnell." Tom stated before he was out the door.

* * *

Inside the traffic department office, the officers were gathered around the TV as the 11 o'clock news was playing camera footage from the helicopter. Fujima's Corvette could be seen shooting off into the distance.

"Look at that..." Ken commented. "Outrunning a helicopter."

"It's like a psychopath in the Batmobile." Aoi added.

"So how do we catch him?" Yoriko asked.

"We don't." A new, American voice called from the doorway. The officers all turned around to see Tom, their long lost colleague, standing in the doorway and taking off his sunglasses.

"Holy crap..." One officer muttered.

"Stay there." Yoriko walked over and lightly punched the tall American in the stomach. "How the...?"

"It's a long story." Tom said, walking over to his old desk spot and sitting down in the chair.

"Tom. You came back." Miyuki said.

"But... But..." Yoriko spluttered. "You were shot in the chest and fell three stories! They said nobody could survive that!"

"But don't you find it strange that _no body_ was ever found?" Tom replied. "You see..."

* * *

2010. Tom had fallen off the side of the building and to his supposed death. However, his flak jacket had absorbed the 9mm bullet and saved him from serious harm, and a dumpster filled with garbage had broken his fall. Now, he knew the police would be searching for him, and they would be searching for the suspect, if they hadn't caught him already. While lying in the dumpster, he'd made up his mind. He would fake his death and start fresh with a new identity.

Climbing out of the dumpster and landing on the tarmac, Tom stumbled away, searching for a place in the alley where he could hide. He took cover behind some garbage as a police car shot by, responding to the incident. Walking out, he saw a familiar red Mini, and strolled over to it.

The old driver noticed Tom, and greeted him.

"Hello Tom. You need some help."

"Oshou..." Tom panted. "You need to help me get out of here. The police think I'm dead."

"OK..." Oshou opened up the passenger door of the Mini ERA Turbo, and Tom got inside.

Out on the road, Oshou drove his new passenger towards the temple. "So Natsumi and Miyuki are OK?"

"Yeah. I think so... Let's hope the suspect doesn't use his gun again." Tom replied.

"Get down." Oshou warned, and Tom complied and ducked down as a group of police vehicles went by, sirens blaring. "So what are you thinking?"

"New identity." Tom returned to sitting upright and rattled off. "New papers, new history, clean slate. I'm gonna need your help for that."

"It might take a while, but I think I could do that. About your apartment?"

"I'll work on that. I can't go back, especially when Natsumi and Miyuki live in the same building. I'll have to find someplace else. I also need you to keep this a secret. Not even Kachou can know about this. They all think I'm dead. I need to make this stick."

Oshou nodded as he pulled up outside the temple.

"Well. We're here."

"Thank you Oshou..." As Tom got out, he looked back at the Tokyo skyline. "Someday..." He muttered. "I'll be back." He sighed. "I hope you'll understand."

* * *

"...And a few months later, I had set up my new identity with Oshou's help." Tom finished. "I'm sorry I brought this on you guys, but I knew I wanted to start fresh. Oshou understood." He stood up. "And that is why Tom Fortnell has been dead for two years."

The officers were left speechless at the revelation.

"So then." Tom walked over to the whiteboard. "Fujima. Let's ge to it." He picked up a marker and drew a mind map. "Why can't we catch him?"

Ken raised his hand. "He has a hostage."

"Right." Tom scribbled down the details. "One Assistant Inspector Kaoruko Kinoshita, still as I remember her apparently. She was part of the convoy escorting Fujima and got taken hostage when he escaped. We can't call in an airstrike on him, 'cause we'd nuke Kinoshita in the process. We'd need an order from the emperor or something, if we even can get an JASDF F-2 to carpet bomb the area. How much is Fujima asking for release?"

"3 billion Yen." Yoriko spoke.

"That figures to about... 35 billion US Dollars in today's money." Tom continued as he scribbled down the information on the whiteboard. "Obviously paying the fee is out of the question."

"Can't we move in to get her out?" Aoi offered.

"Good luck catching that Vette. Even then, Fujima probably won't hesitate to drop her."

"So what now?" A random female officer asked.

"What's number 2?" Tom asked.

"The mercenaries!" Natsumi shouted with her usual bold voice.

"Right." Tom continued to draw the mind map. "From what I've been hearing, these guys are dressed in all black and have access to military grade firearms. AK-47s, SAIGAs, even a couple of QBZ-95 rifles from China."

"Heavy firepower." Another random officer, this time male, remarked.

"Sure. Just the kind of crap I dealt with in the Army." Tom commented.

Miyuki raised her hand. "Forensics was on the line." She reported. "Several people died in the escape, including one at the motor show."

"Motor show?" Tom questioned, turning around. "Cause of death?"

"Shot in the head by a mercenary. They dug out a .500 Magnum round."

"Sounds like a Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolver." Tom said. "Massive recoil, hell of a punch, takes down deer for a living."

"No-one in their right mind would use that in a firefight."

"No-one in their right mind, unless... I think we're dealing with Daisuke Sato here. Former Ground Self Defense Force, he and his bunch of mercenaries have no affiliation. Pretty much they fight for whoever pays them the most. His service is top quality, and his price is high. Now who do you think has got enough muscle to put him on the payroll?" Tom rhetorically asked.

"Fujima!" The officers in the room spoke in unison.

"Right. Now, the motor show reminds me, what is the last thing in this crapstorm that means we can't take him down?"

"The car." Miyuki replied.

"Yeah." Tom drew some more on the whiteboard. "I'm sure we already know the details, so I'll keep it short. Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, 638 horsepower, max speed quoted at 330 km/h (205 mph) and retails for $110,000 base."

"Not your run-of-the-mill car." Natsumi commented.

"Fujima's not your run-of-the-mill criminal." Tom stuck a picture of a Corvette on the whiteboard. "ZR1 diet: Eats GT-Rs and R8s for breakfast, munches superbikes for lunch and has been known to dine on a helicopter for dinner, with a side serving of Ferrari for dessert."

"A perfect combination." Ken said.

"What we have on our side is determination, a promise to serve and protect the people of the Sumida Ward and..."

"Our long lost colleague." Yoriko finished. "With Tom here, we can accomplish anything."

"I'm not sure about that." Tom replied. "But if my re-appearance has triggered this new wave of hope, what the hell has this department been for two years?"

"Completely by the book since you left." Aoi answered. "Not even Natsumi and Miyuki could change that."

"Oh really?" Tom sarcastically replied. He then pointed to Miyuki and Natsumi. "You guys are coming with me. We're heading to the docks, 'cause I think I offloaded the mercenaries' new cars yesterday." The trio walked out of the traffic department office, and past Kachou, who was left wondering about how Tom had survived.

* * *

Have a nice Christmas everyone, and don't forget to leave a review!


	6. Back In Action

Happy New Year everybody! I've been thinking about the story, and I think I've got a good chapter on the way here, even though it might be a bit of a filler.

* * *

Inside the Camaro ZL1, Tom guided the American muscle car through the traffic of Tokyo. Miyuki was in the passenger seat, and Natsumi was in one of the back seats.

"So then Tom." Miyuki started the conversation. "Why are we headed to the docks again?"

"Because I think something big is going down." Tom replied. "The mercenaries use black utility vehicles, and we offloaded a dozen vehicles matching the description yesterday. Now, if I'm correct, the receptionist said they were being transported today, so if we get there, we might be able to catch them before they get transported out."

"Sure." Miyuki looked around, admiring the interior of the ZL1. "You sound like you have a few doubts though. What is it?"

Tom sighed. He knew he couldn't lie to his colleagues, especially his best friends. "I do have a few doubts. I mean, I've been dead for... Hey, don't whack me!" Tom quickly put up his finger to Natsumi, who returned to leaning in the back seat. "I've been dead for two years, and suddenly I'm back and I'm coming in, taking control of everything, assuming command. I don't think a few people are going to like that."

"But you're still one of the best officers I've worked with, and if there's anyone I trust to lead us, it's you." Miyuki looked over at Tom, who continued to keep his eyes on the road. "I'm sure the other officers would rather you lead them than someone who's been working behind a desk and who doesn't know what it's like on the frontlines. You do. You served for three years alongside us, you know what we go through, and I don't recall you making a decision that the others didn't agree with. OK, maybe Yoriko didn't like you shaking her about when you caught her spying but..."

"We're here." Tom suddenly declared as he swung the Camaro into a parking space in front of the office of the import company. He shut off the engine and unbuckled his seat belt. "You stay in the car." He looked at the two women. "I'll sort this one out. The guys at the office still think I'm Crenshaw. I want to make it stick a little while longer. Stay here." He opened the door and climbed out of the muscle car.

"OK." Miyuki watched Tom walk into the office, before feeling the ZL1 embroidery on the driver's seat headrest. "I don't mind though..." She said with a smile.

* * *

Inside the office, Tom marched over to the receptionist's desk.

"Oh, hey Wayne." Izuko greeted. "Finally took a day off?"

"Right." Tom answered. "I need a copy of the manifest for yesterday."

"Sure." Izuko started typing into the computer.

"And flag up any black GM utility vehicles."

"Any reason?"

"Just want to know."

After a short while, the printer had finished inking the paper, and spat it out for Tom to pick up. The manifest had the makes and models of the vehicles, what color they were, what time they'd come in, where they were headed and who had placed the order. As requested, any black Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC SUVs and pickups were in red to make them stand out.

"Thanks bud."

* * *

Getting back inside the Camaro, Tom handed the paper to Miyuki, and she started to scan it.

"See if you can find out who ordered in those vehicles."

"Got it." Miyuki quickly went to the names. "OK, we've got... Akahito Imagawa, Matsudaira Kobayashi and Ryushi Yamakazi."

"And...?"

"And?"

"They ordered in those vehicles." Tom explained. "Very similar. Unless they're three buyers all buying the same product, what else do they have in common?"

"They..." It clicked. "They're known aliases of Daisuke Sato!"

"Exactly." Tom scanned the docks. "If you're a nationally known and almost certainly wanted mercenary, it doesn't make sense to have your real name on the credit card. I guess ordering under three seperate fake names arouses less suspicion."

"So now what?" Natsumi asked from the back seat.

"I'm looking around the docks here and I don't see any of the vehicles we're looking out for. I need to find out something else, sit tight." Tom opened the door and went back out to the office.

"What now?" Izuko asked as he saw the tall American stroll back in.

"You know the utilities we delivered yesterday?" Tom asked. "You said they were transporting today, I need to know where they are."

"Yeah sure, they..." Izuko checked his computer just to make sure. "The trucks just left five minutes ago."

"Thanks." Tom finished, before walking quite rapidly outside and back to his Chevrolet.

"So?" Natsumi questioned as Tom got back into the driver's seat.

"Trucks left 5 minutes ago, if we hurry, we can still catch them." Tom reported as he cranked the powerful V8 engine into life.

"You still think you've got it?" Miyuki asked while Tom was putting on his seatbelt.

"I'll let you make up your own mind." With that, he floored it and the Camaro ZL1 sped away from the docks.

* * *

The Camaro sped through traffic like the other cars on the road were in reverse. Another gearchange and the policewomen were once again hurled back into their seats. The ZL1 was really moving, the supercharger whining as it force fed air into the already big engine to provide even more power.

"Looks like you still got it!" Natsumi whooped.

"Maybe, but I haven't found those trucks yet." Tom replied as he slammed the next gear home, another grenade thrown into the bunker of physics. The Camaro went even faster, homing in on the trucks at speeds that would get any normal driver sweating.

"Try the expressway; they're bound to be going on that road." Miyuki suggested.

"The highway, got it." Tom steered his Chevy onto the expressway and started scanning for big trucks. "Let me know if you see anything."

After about a minute of high speed cruising, Natsumi suddenly pointed out two trucks travelling together. "Hey, look! Over there!"

"I see 'em!" Tom drove up to the trucks. "Hey! I need you to pull over!" He yelled out the window and motioned for them to come to a stop on the side of the road. When the trucks had come to a stop, he spun the car around in front of them. He got out, marching over to the trucks.

"What is it Wayne?" One of the drivers asked.

"I need to see the vehicles." Tom said with authority.

"OK. Follow me."

Tom inspected the two trailers, each containing four vehicles. "OK..." He straightened out. "On behalf of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, I am seizing this shipment."

"You what?" The driver wondered. "You mean, for two years you've been a police detective?"

"No." Tom exhaled. "There's no easy way to say this, but I am not Wayne Crenshaw."

"So who the hell are you?"

A short pause. "Officer Tom Fortnell." Miyuki smiled a bit at that remark. Tom was back.

* * *

Later that day, Tom, Miyuki, Natsumi and Kachou were outside the precinct, with eight vehicles lined up.

"Impressive." Kachou remarked.

"Not exactly textbook..." Tom admitted. "But I still got what I needed..." His voice trailed off.

"What is it Tom?" Natsumi asked.

"We offloaded twelve vehicles yesterday. Today we seized only eight." Tom declared. "Either the four others were hidden somewhere or have already been delivered."

"So what you're saying is...?" Natsumi wondered.

"This is bigger than we thought." Tom stated. "Fujima and Sato are gearing up for a massive assault. Seizing this shipment has likely only impacted them a little. There's more where this came from." He walked over to a GMC Yukon Denali, and opened the trunk to reveal a wide variety of automatic weapons. "A lot more."

"Holy crap..." Kachou muttered.

"Is anyone else getting flashbacks of Hachi-Ichi-Go about this?" Miyuki thought out loud.

"So now we know they've likely already got enough firepower to level the ward." Tom finished. "We need to move on this."

* * *

Hope this was decent enough for you guys.


	7. The Best There Is

First off, sorry for the long wait. The all-new 7th Generation Chevrolet Corvette will be unveiled today on January 13th, so I thought I would push this chapter out for this occasion. I have also been struggling with ideas and motivation. Anyway, enjoy the new C7 Vette, and spare a thought for everyone's least favorite fugitive currently making a run for it in his own Corvette!

Also, while I was taking time off, I discovered the existence of a real person named Daisuke Sato. I would like to state that when naming the characters, I was unaware of the real Sato-san. I will add that any similarities between characters in this story and real-life people are coincidental and completely unintended.

Let's get on with the story now, shall we?

* * *

Now, the traffic department office was buzzing. What seemed a lifeless place was now alive with activity, as officers made phonecalls, typed on computers and processed the captured vehicles and weapons.

"Hisako." One officer called to his female colleague. "Says here there was a Smith & Wesson 500 in one of the vehicles."

"You're right. Says it isn't here. Where could it be Kozue?" She replied to her male counterpart.

"Not a clue." He then looked over at Seiko. "Have you got an idea?"

"Nope." Seiko shook her head. "We kept those vehicles under lock and key, so I don't think they've been stolen. How about we ask Yoriko?" She then looked around the room, the familiar glasses-wearing policewoman nowhere in sight. "Where is she anyway?"

"Ken said she headed down to the firing range with Aoi." Fumiko replied.

"Probably where the 500 is then."

All of a sudden, Tom appeared in the door. "Any of you guys have an idea where Yoriko..."

"Firing range." Everyone in the room replied at once.

"Uhh... OK." And the big American was out the door as fast as he appeared.

* * *

Down at the firing range, Tom found Yoriko and Aoi loading up a few rounds in the chamber of a Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolver.

"Hold on... Mind asking where you got that?" Tom asked as he walked into the room.

"Oh, hey Tom." Yoriko turned around and waved, the massive revolver in her left hand. "Got this from one of the vehicles."

"Hmm. Let's get testing." Tom motioned for her to set up at one of the stations. They grabbed safety goggles and ear protectors, and Yoriko aimed the big revolver at the target sitting downrange at 25 meters.

"OK bud, just remember, two hands on the grip." Yoriko gripped the revolver tightly with both hands as Tom instructed. "Aim down your sights." She closed one eye and lined up the other with the sights on the gun. "And you might want to watch the recoil. That thing's got a hell of a kick, so I wouldn't hold it that close..." Yoriko fired, the massive revolver, whacking a .500 round straight into the target. However, she was holding the revolver very close to her face, and so the massive recoil shoved the gun straight into her forehead. She yelped in pain and released one hand to press against her forehead.

"Thought so." Tom said to Yoriko.

"Just like you said, lots of recoil." Yoriko laughed sheepishly as she realigned her glasses. "What do you want me to do?"

Tom thought for a little bit. "Give me that damn thing!" He yanked the hand cannon out of Yoriko's hand. He then gripped the gun, aimed down the sights and held it as far as his arms could stretch. He then fired again, sending the bullet straight into the target's head. "That's how you do it."

* * *

Outside, Miyuki met Tom. "So I've been thinking."

"And?" Tom replied.

"And I was looking at how they made their way through the roadblocks. The mercenaries cut down the police with alarming ease. We need a way to let ourselves know when they're coming through."

"How do you suppose we do that?"

Miyuki held up a security camera. "I should be able to wire this up to provide a clear image of the streets. Get a network of these, and we can consolidate manpower at the most likely avenue of approach."

"That's great, but I sense a but coming."

"But we need to get high to do it."

"...By that I hope to your deity of choice you mean we gotta find a high place."

"Yep."

"So let's go."

* * *

Within thirty minutes, Tom, Natsumi and Miyuki were looking at a tall wooden telegraph pole. "So our plan is to get that camera set up there?" Natsumi asked, pointing to the top of the pole.

"Yes." Miyuki replied. "Tom, any word on the elevated work platforms?"

"Negative." Tom responded. "They're busy at other poles. That's gonna make it hard to get that camera mounted."

"How do we want to do this?" Natsumi questioned.

"If I remember..." Tom thought a little. "You guys probably used to carry some bungee rope in the back of your car for those situations... Nah. Dismiss that, that's a stupid idea." He looked over at Miyuki. "You've got that look on your face..."

Fast forward a few minutes, and Miyuki had climbed up the pole, the bungee rope around her waist in case she fell. She was now at the top, setting up the camera on a mount. At the bottom, Tom was keeping an eye on things.

"You know Tom..." Natsumi started the conversation. "We have some catching up to do."

"You're right." Tom looked at the brunette policewoman.

"What have you been doing lately?"

"Mostly import work. Bringing American cars into this country."

"So that's where you got that car from?" Natsumi looked at Tom's red Camaro ZL1.

"Yeah." Tom nodded. "I've always been a fan of American cars. Besides, I WAS working at an import company."

"I guess so." Natsumi leaned against the pole.

"Hey, haven't you still got your super strength?"

"Yep." Natsumi smiled. "Who would I be if I wasn't strong?"

"'Cause I wouldn't lean that hard..."

Natsumi leaned a little too hard, snapping the pole and sending it falling down. Miyuki's terrified high pitched scream, usually reserved for monsters, ghost stories and naked ladies in tunnels shrieked through the air as she fell with the pole. Luckily, Miyuki landed in a truck full of mattresses while the unfinished camera smacked against the ground along with the pole.

Natsumi was at a loss for words. Tom simply stated, "Roadblocks it is then."

* * *

"Sir. We are experiencing something strange." One of the dispatchers back at the precinct reported.

"What is it?" Kachou asked.

"We just had an emergency call concerning a woman screaming and falling from a pole into a mattress truck."

Meanwhile, in Nagoya, Fujima marched in angrily. "I was on the phone to our sleeper cells in Tokyo. I want to know why I was cut off."

The merc on the computer exhaled, and replied, "Well sir, it appears that the phone-lines in the area have just gone down."

Fujima slammed his fist down on the table. "DAMMIT!"

* * *

Thought I'd inject a little comedy into this chapter, and I can tell you that the next chapter will be coming soon!


	8. People Like Us

Let's hope you enjoyed the comedy last time, because from here on in, things are going to get SERIOUS! And to hammer it home, I'll be bringing in a few characters long-time YUA fans may be familiar with...

* * *

"So what's the update on the reinforcements?" Tom asked as he walked back into the office.

"Well, the phone lines went down." Hisako mentioned. "Did you guys have anything to do with it?" She asked to Natsumi and Miyuki as they walked in.

"Saw nothing!" Natsumi shouted jokingly, putting her hands up.

"Anyway, a few hours before that, we put a call into NPA Headquarters and they agreed to send some more officers to bolster the defensive lines. They know as much as we do that this is our last chance."

"Right." Tom replied as he sat down at his old spot. "Any word on who they are?"

"Officers from other precincts mainly, and an SAT team consisting of eight men."

"SATs. Huge help." Tom flashed a little thumbs up. "Hopefully they're enough to counter the mercenaries' firepower."

"Hopefully."

"Any word on ETA?"

"The call was put in a few hours ago. They should already be on their way."

"Alright." Tom got up to leave. "And don't ask what happened to Yoriko's forehead."

* * *

Outside the precinct, Tom sat in his parked Camaro ZL1. He was waiting for the first officers to arrive. Right on cue, a female on a police motorbike powered in and came to a stop in front of the garages. This was Tom's cue to get out of the Chevrolet and walk over. He studied the short brunette remove her helmet and dismount the bike.

"You one of the officers sent in to catch Fujima?" Tom asked.

"Yes sir!" The female saluted. "Hey, aren't you the legendary Tom Fortnell?"

"Yep." Tom saluted back. "And you are?"

"Officer Reiko Sakai."

"So then Reiko." Tom motioned for her to follow as he walked to the door. "Do you know any of the officers here?"

"Yes, I do." Reiko explained, "When Natsumi Tsujimoto transferred to the White Bike Troopers, I was assigned to help her out. We were escorting a marathon when there was a tanker fire and Natsumi rushed off to help her partner."

"Hey, I remember that!" Tom remembered using the power of his '97 Camaro Z28 police car to help stop the runaway tanker.

"I've heard a lot about your service." Reiko continued. "You're a legend in the police. And I am really lucky to get to meet you. Everyone thought you were dead!"

"Not lucky, just united in a common goal. Just ask someone for directions to the traffic department office."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

As Tom watched the female bike trooper march off, he walked back outside towards his Camaro. As he did so, a Porsche 911 pulled in from the street and parked next to the muscle car. Tom instantly knew who Headquarters had dispatched next.

Chie Sagamiono.

Chie climbed out of her sports car and almost immediately noticed Tom. "Fortnell..." She started.

"I know." Tom responded.

"Back from the dead?"

"Never dead in the first place."

"Great!" Chie patted Tom on the shoulder just to make sure she wasn't speaking to a ghost.

"Well. I'm back. Let's get Fujima this time."

"OK." As Chie started to walk away, Tom placed his hand on her shoulder, and she turned her head to look at the tall American again.

"Now look. It's been two years but I know you've got something to prove. Now you may try to deny it, but ever since Yoriko lucked out and beat you at the academy you've had something to prove. I've seen it on the battlefields of Afghanistan. Having something to prove out there can get you killed."

"You think I can't take care of myself?" Chie asked.

"I'd say yeah, you can take care of yourself. But when the mercs arrive and bullets start flying, don't put yourself in danger just to prove you're better than Yoriko." Tom patted Chie on her shoulder. "Have a nice day."

* * *

A few minutes later, another patrol car pulled in. Tom studied the two occupants as they exited the vehicle. One male, 5'7, black hair, the other female, 5'4, brown hair. Both had the look in their eyes. The thousand yard stare. Tom knew they'd seen some serious action before.

"What are your names?" Tom asked.

The male took a second to react. "Keiji Nakamura."

"And who's she?"

"Rena Mitsubishi." The female answered.

"You guys look shaken. Seen action recently?" Tom asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Keiji nodded. "We were at Roadblock 3 near Osaka when they came through. We were the only survivors."

"Oh man... I thought I saw the thousand yard stare."

"Thousand yard stare sir?" Rena wondered.

"Yeah." Tom nodded. "I saw it all the time in Afghanistan. You'd get soldiers who'd seen combat, they'd come back and they'd have this scared look, this stare, this... It was like they were looking out for a sniper or a guy with an RPG. They looked like they were scanning the horizon for combatants. Why it was called the thousand yard stare. It often seemed like they were staring right through you."

"Must've been terrifying." Keiji stated.

"Damn right. We were just like you guys. We were just there, we were just doing our jobs, many of us were scared and the only reason they called us heroes... Was because we didn't run away."

"Let's just hope we stay strong enough to catch that Fujima."

"Yeah..." Tom finished as he returned to watching the entrance.

* * *

Several minutes and a few more officers later, the SATs finally arrived in a truck. One such officer dismounted and marched over.

"Tom?"

"Yep." Tom replied. "It's me Toukairin. How you doing?"

"Good!" Shouji replied. "Glad to see you're not really dead!"

"I know, I know... So you've already been briefed on the situation?" Tom asked.

"Yes sir." Shouji confirmed. "We're talking about a dozen or so armed hostiles. Fast moving, shoot-to-kill. Special ops maybe?"

"I'd recruit spec ops if I was assembling a team of mercenaries."

"What about the car? I heard it's a Corvette."

Tom pointed to his red Camaro ZL1. "Let me worry about that."

"Sure thing." Shouji then shook Tom's hand. "Good to have you back Fortnell."

"You too Shouji. Now get up there. If I'm correct, there's a certain brunette strongwoman who is gonna flip when she sees you!"

"Don't tempt me!" Shouji laughed as he jogged towards the precinct. The other SAT operatives had got out of the truck and were now staring in awe at the presumed-dead officer now standing in front of them. Murmurs of "Holy crap!" and "That's Fortnell-san!" could be heard.

"Welcome to Bokuto." Tom simply said. "We hope you enjoy your stay."

* * *

Inside, the officers were getting acquainted with their colleagues. Tom walked in, and the chatter died down. Tom knew that they wanted him to give a speech.

"Alright. As designated leader of this operation..." He spoke. "Ah crap, I didn't even have a speech prepared." A few chuckles which quickly died down. "Let's try that again." He cleared his throat. "Apart from the fact that I'm still here, I'm pretty sure none of this surprises you. Isn't it ironic that we have all these things meant to improve your lives in some way, and even in this age of police budget cuts and re-tasking, there's still a threat that they could fall into the wrong hands?

"Think about it. The big guns for you to protect yourself and your families. The high ranking officials in the NPA to help keep you safe. The powerful supercars capable of ridiculous speeds engineered to give you the ultimate thrill. And no-one ever seems to ask... What happens when the enemy steals the keys? What happens when the very things that are meant to improve our lives are turned against us?

"Right now, we have a fugitive on the loose. He has the NPA official, Lt. Kaoruko Kinoshita, held hostage. He has a whole mercenary army with all the big guns. He is making his escape in the Corvette ZR1, with ridiculous speeds previously the domain of race car drivers. And right now, he's gearing up for an all-out assault. That's when they'll realize... They still need people like us. They will always need people like us. Men and women willing to do what others cannot." A big cheer rose up from the officers in the room. "But we cannot afford to rest.

"Right now, Fujima is gearing up for all-out war. This is our last chance to catch him before he gets on a boat and escapes Japan forever, and knows it. Fujima is going to come through here with everything he's got. Make sure you know how to fight. Because if there's anything we know about the mercenaries, it's this: They had heavy firepower when they were busting through the roadblocks. Now, they're going to get Fujima through to the docks and they don't care how many die along the way. I've seen enough blood and death, and I know they're not going out without a lot of either. I know what's coming.

"It's approaching the evening. Go home and get some rest. We'll need 200% from every one of you when he comes through. But you should always be on standby, because we never know when he's going to make a move. That's the unpredictability of police work. I could serve another 30 years. I could die tomorrow. I know you never signed up for anything like this, but if we work together and stay strong, we can protect the community of the Sumida Ward, and secure a future for them and ourselves. That is all. Thank you for listening." Tom finally finished, to a huge applause from the assembled officers.

Kachou stood next to Tom. "Good speech." He stated.

"Thanks." Tom replied. "I raise my game when I have to."

"So the star duo has finally got their back-up again."

"I guess so..." He looked at Miyuki and Natsumi, and remembered all the times that he'd helped them out of tricky situations.

"It's good to have you back Tom." Kachou patted Tom on the back. "Let's show those guys you don't mess with Bokuto's best." With that, he joined the remaining officers in going out and back to their homes for the night, leaving Tom alone in the room.

"I know it's not going to be that easy." Tom walked to a desk and sat down on a chair. Finally alone, he could think.

"Tom?" Miyuki called from the doorway. "Are you coming?"

"Not this time Miyuki." Tom answered. "I'm going to stay here and think up of a way to catch this joker."

"OK." Before Miyuki left, she said, "But please, be careful out there. I'm not losing you again." The black-haired policewoman left, leaving Tom in peace.

"If only I didn't try to fake my death that day..." Tom muttered. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

* * *

In Nagoya, the mercs had finally set up communications with their fellow men awaiting orders in Tokyo.

"Sir." One mercenary saluted Daisuke as he walked in. "The phone lines went down but we managed to set up a webcam link with our sleeper cell in Tokyo."

"OK." Daisuke sat down in front of the computer. The face of the leader of the sleeper cell in Tokyo was on the screen. "Can you hear me?" He spoke into the microphone.

"Yes sir." The merc replied.

"What is your current status?"

"Sixteen men, four vehicles. Automatic rifles for everyone, one recoilless rifle. Currently on standby and awaiting orders sir."

"Proceed with the plan. Time your operation to coincide with our operation."

"Yes sir."

Daisuke got up and inspected the many vehicles and troops in the warehouse. "Boss."

"Yes?" Fujima walked over from the Corvette ZR1.

"We have our sleeper cell on the move."

"OK. Have seventy of our men move out. Leave thirty to defend this warehouse."

"Yes sir." Daisuke then turned to his men.

"What are our orders sir?" One merc asked.

A short pause. "Give them something to remember."

* * *

Hope you liked this chapter! If so, please remember to review so I know what to improve on!


	9. Warzone

Sorry for the wait, as I've lacked the motivation, and I've been working on what will go on in this next chapter. Now I gotta tell you, this will hit hard, so those who are nervous may want to tread carefully.

* * *

Chubu Precinct, Nagoya, 10:40pm

At Chubu Precinct 9, the tired officers within were waiting for their colleagues to take over for the night shift.

"I hear Bokuto's going to be the center of the operation." A female officer struck up a conversation. "Anyone think they can't handle it?"

"I think they can take it." A male officer replied. "They're resourceful; they'll find a way of matching the threat. Even if they have to bend the rules to do it."

"You're telling me!" Another male shouted. "God help those mercenaries if they steal some panties, they'll never forget what happens next!"

"Yeah." The female then stifled a yawn. "When's the night shift going to get here anyway?"

"I'm not sure." The male answered. "But we're going to have to stay on our toes. When the shifts are transferring, we'll be at our weakest until we complete the transfer. Let's hope they don't try anything." The other officers nodded in agreement.

Little did the officer know how right he was.

* * *

Bokuto Precinct, Tokyo, 11:05pm

While he was thinking up of a plan, Tom saw Ken walk in and take a seat.

"Any reason why you're here Ken?" Tom asked.

"I'm going to help you draw up this plan." Ken replied, adjusting his sunglasses. "Besides, someone's got to help you hold down this fort, right?"

"Right." Tom reached for the remote for the TV. "How about we flick on the news? Get our "Eyes on the city"? Maybe the new guy was right about watching the news..."

The TV powered to life and displayed some random soap opera. Obviously, it was the women of the precinct who liked these dramas. Tom thought to himself that some things never change. He changed the channel to TBS News.

"...Now go live to our reporter on the ground in Nagoya, where a shocking..."

Ken stared at the images unfolding on the screen, his jaw dropped. "Mother of god..." He muttered.

Tom was simply silent.

"Tom?" Ken asked the American. "Tom? What's going on?"

His face now the very definition of determination, Tom simply asked, "Where do they keep the keys to the impound lot?"

* * *

Chubu Precinct, Nagoya, 10:50pm

Down by the gate, the fresh night shift gatekeeper had just met the tired day shift gatekeeper.

"About time someone got here." The day shift gatekeeper, Gonshiro, said to Koji, the night shift gatekeeper.

"Yeah." Koji replied. "Sorry I'm late."

"Anyway, the people up there in Traffic think something's about to go down. You think they're right?"

Almost exactly on cue, a black GMC Sierra 2500HD pickup pulled up to the gate, and Koji walked up to the right side of the pickup.

"I think that's American." Gonshiro commented. "Try the left side, the driver sits on the left in America."

Koji nodded, and marched over to the left side of the truck. He knocked on the window, and it rolled down. "Excuse me..."

From the guard shack, Gonjishiro watched in horror as a shot rang out and Koji fell, lifeless to the floor. "Oh crap!" He said as he ran out to try to make it to the safety of the building. A black clad mercenary rose up from the pickup bed, took aim and took him down with a single shot from his rifle.

The path now clear, other black SUVs and pickups now screeched in and entered the precinct parking lot, mercenaries getting out and swarming the area.

* * *

Bokuto Precinct, Tokyo, 11:10pm

Tom and Ken marched over to the impound lot, which was locked. Ken fished out the key and unlocked the padlock, before trying to open the gate. It refused to budge, so Tom kicked the gate down.

Making their way inside, they went to the shack where they kept the keys. Tom grabbed a set of keys with the Chevrolet bowtie, and pressed the unlock button. The vehicle that flashed its lights as it unlocked was a black Suburban at the front. Tom tossed the keys to Ken.

"You drive, I'll ride shotgun." Tom stated as he got in the passenger seat of the SUV. He opened the glove compartment and pulled out a Glock 17 pistol, loading an extended magazine.

"Are you sure about this?" Ken asked as he climbed into the driver's seat. "I've never handled anything as big as this."

"Look." Tom stated. "We have to get out there and get our guys to safety. There's no telling what the mercs are planning. I don't care if you drive like Natsumi, if we don't get out there, they're pretty much screwed anyway."

"OK." Ken finished as he started up the Suburban.

* * *

Chubu Precinct, Nagoya, 10:55pm

When all of the mercenaries were out of the vehicles, the assault began. They split into three teams. The first team entered the precinct and started gunning down police officers with automatic weapons. The second team set about destroying police equipment. Radios and vehicles were shot up to prevent the police from calling for help or escaping. The third team remained outside, ready to greet reinforcements responding to any calls for help that somehow did get through.

Inside the traffic department office, a male officer slid his revolver across the table.

"Eh?" A policewoman asked.

"Reports of shots fired, and no-one's been answering their radios. If any mercenaries try coming in here, blow their freaking heads off." The woman nodded in agreement and picked up the revolver.

The people in the room quieted down and footsteps could be heard outside. The footsteps stopped outside the door, and the door handle moved slowly. The female screamed and pumped six shots from the revolver into the door. More quiet, until the door was kicked down and mercenaries piled in, spraying automatic fire. In seconds, the officers in the room lay dead or dying, and the mercenaries moved on to clear another part of the building. As one last merc marched towards the exit, he heard coughing and looked back to find a wounded officer lying on the floor.

As he saw the mercenary walk up to stand over him, he begged weakly, "Please... Help me... I have a pregnant wife..." The merc showed no emotion as he pulled the trigger.

* * *

Downtown, Tokyo, 11:15pm

Natsumi leaned back in the passenger seat of Miyuki's classic Toyota sports car as her partner drove towards their apartment.

"Do you think Tom is going to be able to handle this?" Natsumi asked.

"If there is anyone I know who can pull this off, it's Tom." Miyuki replied.

All of a sudden, a black Silverado pickup truck turned onto the road in front of them. Heading towards an intersection, the truck strangely stopped.

"What does he think he's doing? He's stopped on a green light!" Miyuki remarked. Then it clicked. "Wait..." She muttered. "Black pickups and SUVs..." Four men dressed in black got out of the truck. "NATSUMI! Get down!" The warning couldn't have come soon enough, because just as the two women ducked down, the mercenaries started shooting at the car.

* * *

Chubu Precinct, Nagoya, 11:00pm

News crews were setting up outside the precinct, ducking behind their vans to avoid getting shot in the crossfire or on purpose.

"This is Maki Ippitsusai, reporting live for NHK News in Nagoya where a shock attack is currently underway at the police station. The police here are being attacked by people dressed in black, described as operating like special forces soldiers, and featuring body armor and assault weapons."

Sirens shrieked through the air as a convoy of police vehicles passed the line of vans towards the station.

"A group of police cars have now passed our position to try to drive back the defenders." Maki continued to provide a commentary.

The lead police car swung into the precinct parking lot to be greeted by a mercenary standing there with an M2 Carl Gustav. The merc fired, slinging a shell into the police car, blowing it up in a spectacular fireball.

"Oh my god! One of the police cars has just exploded! It seems like one of the attackers hit it with a shot from what appears to be a bazooka or a rocket launcher!"

A pause while a member of the news crew gave a report of what he had just been told by other news crews elsewhere.

"We have just received reports that attacks like this are taking place at precincts all over Nagoya. It truly is war on the streets. Apparently a warning was issued just before the attacks started and who the NPA have now confirmed came from escaped criminal Takashi Fujima. It reads:

"You cops should know better than to stick your noses into my business. Now, I shall have to give you an example of what happens when you mess with me. You see, you cops are so predictable. I am not. I am like death; I come for you in the middle of the night. I am waiting in the kitchen when you go for a glass of milk."

* * *

Downtown, Tokyo, 11:20pm

The message was repeated on the radio, which was tuned to NHK as Ken sped the Suburban through the city streets. It was starting to get empty as civilians saw and heard about what was going on in Nagoya and started to evacuate the streets, fearing that a similar assault would take place in Tokyo.

"I am like death, I come for you in the middle of the night. I am waiting for you in the kitchen when you go for a glass of milk." Tom repeated. "Dammit. He timed this attack to coincide with when we were changing our shifts, when we were unprepared for an attack."

"What do you want me to do Tom?" Ken asked.

"We're going to get Natsumi and Miyuki and get them back to the station. I think Fujima's deploying his mercenaries to weaken the police force before he rushes through."

"So you want me to step on it?"

"No. I want you to FRICKIN' STEP ON IT!"

Back at the intersection, the two women were still ducking for cover as the mercenaries continued to shoot up their car.

"When I shout now, I need you to get out and leap behind the car, can you do that?" Miyuki asked, and Natsumi nodded. "Now!" Both women hurled the doors open and ran out to the back of the car, ducking down behind it.

Miyuki looked at the mercs, who now seemed to be firing at another vehicle. "What's going on?"

She looked the other way to find a black Suburban had stopped nearby. The passenger was leaning out of the window and firing his pistol at the mercs. A familiar American voice barked to them.

"Come on! Get in the truck!" Tom shouted. "I'll cover you! Go!" Natsumi and Miyuki ran for the Suburban as Tom continued to fire at the mercenaries. Tom was lucky to call out to them so soon, as a mercenary used the other M2 Carl Gustav to blow up Miyuki's Sports 800 just as the two policewomen climbed inside.

"Move it Ken!" Tom bellowed. Ken threw the shifter in reverse and stamped on the throttle as shots pinged off the SUV. Tom slapped in another magazine in his pistol and started firing out the window again.

Ken tried to spin the Suburban around in a 180, but instead, he managed to just slam the big SUV into a guardrail, and stall the engine.

"Ah crap!" Ken swore as he desperately tried to start the engine again.

"Come on Ken! Now's not a good time!" Tom shouted, before he ducked as some bullets hit the side of the Suburban, shattering the side windows.

"Got something here!" Natsumi had picked up a shotgun from the passenger foot well, and pumped it before returning fire.

"Keep the fire on 'em!" Tom turned back to find a merc poking a CAR-15 rifle through the window. "Whoa!" Seemingly in slow motion, the big American grabbed the rifle and yanked it further into the vehicle and out of the merc's hands before whacking him unconscious with the buttstock. Checking the magazine, he saw that there were still rounds loaded, so he hurled the rifle to Miyuki. "Give 'em hell Kobayakawa!" Miyuki knew that Tom usually called her and Natsumi by their first names, so this was truly a serious situation. She flicked the rifle to automatic and started firing at the other mercenaries. By now, Ken had managed to get the Suburban started, and he peeled out as quick as the big American SUV could accelerate.

* * *

Downtown, Tokyo, 11:30pm

Out of danger, Tom used Ken's cellphone to call Kachou.

"Chief?" He said. "Yeah, we're OK. That crap that's happening in Nagoya? Miyuki and Natsumi came under fire from mercenaries as they were coming home. Yes, that's right. Fujima has mercenaries in Tokyo, and we believe this was meant to coincide with the Nagoya attacks. That doesn't matter right now! Call up every officer and tell everyone who responds to get the hell back to the station right frickin' now! Tell them not to stop for any red lights, black SUVs, green Martians or anything else! Just get back to the precinct and await further orders, other officers may have come under fire!"

The peace had ended. The war was almost ready to begin.

* * *

Again, sorry for the wait. Hope this chapter was good enough to make up for it!


	10. Calm Before The Superstorm

Another long wait, sorry...

* * *

Kachou stood outside the building as a black Suburban swerved in. It was shot up, with plenty of bullet holes, shot-out windows and even one of the lights out of commission. Tom jumped out of the SUV, followed by the Japanese officers.

"What the hell happened?" Kachou asked, examining the 60 bullet holes in the vehicle.

"You call back the other officers?" Tom replied.

"Yes, they're on their way."

"I can see..." Natsumi added as a small car swerved in beside the Chevrolet. Yoriko and Aoi came out, along with another officer with a bloodstained uniform.

"Natsumi! Miyuki!" Yoriko said as she ran towards the two policewomen. "It was terrible! There was this black pickup following us and we only just managed to shake it off!"

Tom meanwhile, examined the officer's wound. "You were walking home?"

"Yeah." The officer answered. "This black jeep drew alongside and one of the passengers drew a pistol and fired. I got hit in the shoulder and collapsed to the floor. I managed to get a look at the vehicle before it fled. It was very big, and had a yellow bowtie on the back."

"Like that?" Tom pointed to the Suburban.

"Yeah." The officer nodded. "Only less... Shot up... What _were_ you doing?"

"Don't ask. Yoriko and Aoi pick you up?"

"Yeah. Aoi helped to treat my wound before we took off for the station." Tom looked towards Aoi, who had blood on his hands.

"Better get that checked out good. We don't want you bleeding out on us."

"Yes sir." The officer marched towards the station.

"Looks like you were right Fortnell." Ken spoke.

"Yeah. Hopefully no one's been killed." Tom said as a convoy of vehicles turned into the parking lot. "OK Kachou, I want you to do a headcount of everyone coming in here. Anyone missing, flag it up and let me know. And give me the status on those SATs; Fujima's serious and he's gonna rocket over here while we're still recovering from the attack. Those mercs are gonna strike again when he's coming through, I know it."

"I'll get right on it." Kachou walked back into the building.

* * *

An hour later, most of the officers had come back to the station. However, a few officers did not make it, and spirits were not high among those who had lost a longtime colleague. Tom was sitting in his usual seat, deep in thought.

All of a sudden, Chie piped up. "How are we going to go up against all of that firepower?"

"Eh?" Natsumi wondered.

"You saw what they have. They've got a lot of automatic rifles. We only have revolvers and a few officers' pistols."

"They've got either frag grenades or a bazooka as well." A White Bike Trooper added. "When I was returning to the station, I saw the burnt-out wreck of a car..."

"Don't remind me!" Miyuki screamed, and the room fell silent, a silence broken by the White Bike Trooper's question.

"What do you say Tom? How do you think we're going to survive this?"

There was a long pause, before Tom replied. "I've got an idea."

"What sort of idea?" Chie asked.

"It might be a long shot, but even in gun-controlled Japan, I think I know where to find some firearms."

"What, are just going to ship them in from Gunsmith Cats in Chicago?" A policewoman sarcastically replied.

"No. But I'm going out to see if I can find somewhere where we can get more than what we have now." Tom declared as he got up and marched towards the door. Miyuki grabbed his arm.

"Are you crazy?" She asked. "If they catch you out there, they're going to kill you!"

"Maybe, but I still have to try."

"I can't lose you again!"

"Let go of me. I'm going out there and I'm going to drag you out there with me if you don't let go."

Miyuki let go of his arm. "Then I'm coming with you."

"Alright then, guess I'm coming along as well." Natsumi stood up and walked to the pair.

"Keep trying to raise the SATs." Tom ordered. "I know they're not responding, but they have to report in eventually. And no-one else move out of this damn building until we come back."

* * *

The roads were deserted as people were afraid to come out after the chaos of the surprise attack. Because of this, Tom, Miyuki and Natsumi had the road to themselves as they rode in the big Silverado pickup. They'd picked this vehicle to try not to draw attention to themselves in case any mercenaries were still prowling the streets.

"So what's your big idea then?" Natsumi asked from the backseat of the Chevy.

"I'm thinking maybe... We might be able to get some weapons from a place downtown. I'll use a crossbow or a hunting rifle if I have to, but I hope we can get something better than that..."

"Tom?" Miyuki asked. "You sound unsure. Is everything alright?"

Tom sighed. "I don't know if I can do this. I go for two years presumed dead, then I'm thrown straight back into the action. I don't know if I can still do the job I did."

"You're one of the best people I know for this. You've got the most military experience out of all of us. Why do you think you're not sure if you can do this...? Tom?"

"I think I saw something." Tom declared before turning the Silverado around.

"That was an illegal U-turn." Natsumi reported.

"Screw it, you really think anyone's going to be out enforcing the traffic laws after what's happened?" Tom replied as he pulled into a parking lot. The truck's headlights illuminated the building, revealing the sign which read WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL MUSEUM.

"So that's your plan?" Natsumi asked.

"Stay in the truck. Anyone comes, you keep the truck running ready for me." Tom said. He got out of the Silverado, grabbing a flashlight along the way. He marched up to a window and shone the flashlight through. There were quite a few weapons in there as part of the exhibits, weapons that could hopefully be fixed to fire again. This was his plan.

"Anything in there?" Miyuki asked as Tom slipped behind the wheel.

"Yeah, they got guns." Tom replied.

"What kind of guns?"

"The kind of crap our grandfathers fought with at Okinawa, but it's a start."

"I guess so. Any guns are better than trying to beat the mercs with riot shields and spoons."

"Yes. You're right."

"But what about the ammo?" Natsumi questioned. "We can't fire guns without ammo."

"If I remember, Morimoto's was the biggest ammo store downtown, stocked all kinds of ammo from 9mm to .50. He still running his operation?" Tom asked.

"Yes." Miyuki answered. "Illegally, but he's still in business."

"That's where we get the ammo. Now let's get back to the precinct."

* * *

"We have a problem." Yoriko declared as the trio walked back into the room.

"What is it?" Miyuki asked.

"We haven't been able to raise the SATs on the radio. We've lost contact with them."

A little pause. "Was Shouji with them?" Natsumi weakly said.

Yoriko only gave a weak nod. Nobody had the heart to tell her. Natsumi hastily excused herself from the room. Tom watched her as she went out. Turning back to the occupants of the room, he spoke, "You guys get some rest here. My best guess is that Fujima isn't going to want to hang around any longer than he has to, so it's all going to kick off in the morning. He's going to stick around to build his forces up to full strength and not a minute longer. We're going to need 200% from you, so rest up." With that, he left the room.

* * *

It was a few hours after the deadly attack on the Nagoya police stations, and the officers were still on edge. Daichi and Masaru were two officers working at a roadblock that had been set up to search vehicles trying to leave the city.

"License and registration please." Masaru asked a person in a sedan. The driver complied and handed him the documents. As he scanned through, he heard a shout from Daichi.

"Hey!" Daichi called. "I got something here."

"What is it?" Masaru asked as he handed the documents back to the driver and walked over.

"That car." Daichi replied as he shone his flashlight on a Cyber Gray Corvette ZR1. "That's Fujima's car."

"Looks abandoned." Masaru commented. "We should call in a tow truck, and advise other roadblocks that Fujima may be trying to leave the city in another vehicle."

"Yes." Daichi sighed.

"What's wrong?" Masaru wondered.

"That Corvette is such a powerful car." Daichi sighed. "How I'd love to hear that engine roar."

What happened next scared the crap out of the two. The powerful ZR1 suddenly burst into life, the sound of the supercharged V8 engine echoing off surrounding buildings. Before Daichi and Masaru could pull out their revolvers, the Corvette took off, burning rubber and throwing up a cloud of tire smoke.

* * *

Inside the NPA control room in Tokyo, Arizuka marched in. The staff were immediately alert and standing to attention.

"Come on people." Arizuka grunted. "NPA is all over me, especially since it's Kinoshita being held hostage. We need to get Fujima. Where is he?"

"We have police units in Nagoya searching for him sir." One sergeant reported.

"Not good enough." Arizuka responded. "Get the highway patrol. He might've already slipped out. And tell them to bring their fastest cars."

"I'll get right on it sir." The sergeant nodded before he picked up the phone on his desk.

"So why doesn't he just helicopter out?" Another sergeant asked.

"That ZR1 is faster than any helicopter, if you remember." An inspector replied.

"How about a jet?"

"He knows we've got the airports on lockdown."

"There were reports of police officers coming under fire in Tokyo, I think he's going to make his escape there."

"Sir!" The shout from the sergeant silenced everyone.

"What is it?" Arizuka interrogated.

"That was Nagoya police on the line, Fujima has been spotted and is now running."

The room now exploded into a flurry of activity as officials made phone calls and started sticking pins on a big map.

* * *

The sirens started wailing as police units responded to the calls of a dark gray Corvette speeding through. Other minor incidents were quickly ignored as officers dropped everything to rush to try and capture the wanted Fujima.

"Patrol Car 4, inbound!" Shiro yelled into the radio. He guided his patrol car through the streets to try to get ahead of the suspect. Pretty much everyone knew by now that if that Corvette got ahead of you, it wasn't even worth trying to keep up.

The ZR1 slid in from a side street, followed by two more police cruisers. Seeing his chance, he accelerated to get slightly ahead of the sleek supercar.

"This is 4, I'm going to try to slow him down, let's box him in."

All of a sudden, the Corvette nudged the rear quarter panel of the patrol car, sending it sliding sideways, and then pushed it along, forming a T. The ramp-shaped Chevrolet speared underneath the tall police car, and started to push it along.

"Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap!" Shiro cursed, scared as he floored the accelerator and tried to break free. The Corvette accelerated, further pushing the cruiser, then braked as it tipped onto its side. The second police car rammed into the wreckage of Shiro's cruiser, and the third car tried to swerve out of the way, only to run underneath a low garage door and shear the roof off.

"This is Patrol Car 4, we are officially, completely, totally, 100% screwed." Shiro panted as he watched the Corvette's four round taillights disappear into the distance.

Getting onto the highway, Fujima quickly saw a swarm of 10 police cars, a few sports cars, a really fast GT-R and a couple of police motorcycles all ahead of him. He simply darted through the vehicles, the Corvette hugging the road like a gecko, and then sped away as the highway patrol took up pursuit.

* * *

"Highway Patrol reports they have Fujima heading eastbound on the Tomei Expressway. The pursuit force is comprised mainly of patrol cars and bikes, but they have brought their fastest cars." The sergeant reported back in the room as he stuck a gray pin on the big map to represent the Corvette ZR1, followed by about fifteen white pins representing the police.

"I want air support on station within the hour." Arizuka ordered. "I also want any units near to Tokyo to head there to assist local forces. Tokyo's our last chance to catch him, we need everything we've got over there."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Back on the highway, the pursuit was still going on. No-one wanted to set up roadblocks, knowing what had happened to their counterparts in Osaka.

"This is helicopter 9-7, we are spinning up on the pad, we'll be over pursuit area in thirty minutes." Fujima heard every word on the radio in his car. He looked over to Kinoshita in the passenger seat, handcuffed to the grab rail, and then slammed 4th gear home. He floored it, rapidly accelerating to 300km/h (186mph) leaving the police units staring at the back end of the Corvette ZR1 as it sped into the night and towards Tokyo.

* * *

Hope this chapter was worth the wait!


	11. Ultraviolence

This is where it all comes together. I'm pretty sure you've been waiting for the showdown between Fujima's army of mercenaries and the officers of the Bokuto Precinct, so let's go!

* * *

Blasting along the freeway, the Corvette ZR1 was in its element. The helicopter that had taken off half-an-hour ago was now illuminating it in the night.

"I've got that Corvette in my sights." The pilot remarked.

"Don't let him go this time." The co-pilot said.

"We have a roadblock set up about a kilometer down the road in case he tries to outrun you." An officer replied. Fujima heard it all on the radio.

"So now what?" Kinoshita asked. "You can't outrun them this time."

"You're right..." Fujima replied. He suddenly slammed on the brakes and turned off the lights.

"What the?" The pilot exclaimed. "Where'd he go?"

The pilot searched frantically for the fleeing vehicle, but trying to spot the Cyber Gray Corvette with no lights on in the pitch darkness of the night was almost impossible.

"Swing around!" The co-pilot suggested. "He might be trying to turn around!"

"Where is he?"

"I don't see him!"

"Ah dammit, we lost him..."

* * *

Tom woke up at 6:30 that morning. Groaning, he got up and shifted so that he sat upright in the seat. As a special-ops soldier, Tom had learned to be ready to go at any time, so he could function on little sleep. He could usually grab sleep wherever he could, even if it was in the driver's seat of his Camaro. He got the keys and put them in the ignition.

"Half six." He remarked, looking at the in-car clock. He turned off the ignition and got out of the Chevrolet, marching towards the precinct.

As it turned out, Fujima had not blasted through already. That was what Tom was counting on. Nagoya was only about 355 kilometers (220 miles) from Tokyo, and if Fujima cranked his Corvette up to top speed, he could be in Japan's capital in just over an hour. However, he would've had to slow down so his mercenaries in the big SUVs could keep up. That would push his arrival time up so the officers could grab some rest.

At 7:00am, the other officers had woken up. Tom immediately got them to work. Most of the officers would go out to establish roadblocks to try to intercept Fujima. Some would stay behind to co-ordinate efforts in a command role, and the rest would take the captured pickups and grab some guns and ammo. Right now, the officers would take whatever they could get to defend themselves against the mercenaries. Some might have objected to the guns, and stated the rules about the use of firearms, but the Bokuto officers agreed that now, the rules had changed. And don't forget, Bokuto's officers were perfectly happy to do whatever it took to get the job done.

* * *

At 7:30am, the guns-and-ammo-gatherers were at the World War II Memorial Museum.

Inside, Shinichi, the receptionist, was reading a newspaper when the cops came in. Noticing this immediately, he cast the newspaper aside.

"Morning." He sighed. "Before you come to take away the guns, they are here as exhibition pieces, and we don't have ammunition on site. I have the paperwork to prove it..."

"Forget it." Masao, the lead officer replied. "We need to see the guns."

"OK... Right this way." Shinichi marched through to the exhibitions.

"Quite a collection here." Masao remarked.

"Damn right." Shinichi spoke, pointing to a row of submachine guns. "Thompson M1s. The famous Tommy Guns. Capable of 600 rounds of automatic fire a minute, ideal for clearing confined spaces and personal defense." He then pointed up to a big rifle. "M1 Garand, once called the "greatest battle implement ever devised" by US General George S. Patton..."

"We're not all gun experts here." Masao interrupted. "If we give the guns ammo, will they fire?"

"Probably." Shinichi thought. "I don't see any reason why they shouldn't. We keep them clean and we check for imperfections, so..."

"Great." Masao reached up and grabbed the M1 Garand off the wall. "Fujima's coming in hot, and we need every bit of firepower we can get our hands on."

"OK." Shinichi picked up two of the Thompsons and handed them to a pair of female officers. He then paused, a brainwave forming. "You want firepower?"

"Check this out!" Shinichi yelled as he tore off the cover to reveal a massive Browning machine gun.

"Whoa!" Masao reacted to the sight of the big belt-fed machine gun.

"The Browning M1919." Shinichi recited. "Air cooled, fires .30 caliber rounds at up to 600 rounds a minute. This very gun was used at Okinawa, fired 100,000 rounds without jamming. This big gun was donated to the museum in 1952 and has been here ever since." He said with a smile.

"This is definitely not legal!" Masao shouted.

"To fire, no. To keep as an exhibit, yes. I got the paperwork to prove it..."

"Forget it, seriously." Masao picked up the big M1919. "Whoa!" He felt the weight. "This thing must weigh about 14 kilos!"

"I suppose you want it?" Shinichi asked.

"OK. What's the catch?"

"Just catch Fujima."

"Got it." Masao put down the massive Browning and turned to find another officer. "Who do you think you are, the Strikeman?"

The other officer held up a spiked baseball bat. "You never know..."

* * *

At 8:00am, Fujima had still not arrived. At the precinct, the command tent had been set up and was now buzzing with activity.

"How come Fujima hasn't already arrived?" One sergeant asked. "For all we know, he could've already caught a boat out of Yokohama."

"Yeah, well, Fujima has a way of deceiving people." Another sergeant said.

In another part of the tent, Tom was sitting down on a seat, frustrated.

"This is stupid." He said out loud. "How come I'm stuck here when officers are going to be laying down their lives out there?"

"Put simply, you're too valuable to go out there and get killed." Daichi, an Inspector replied as he sat down beside the big American.

"Oh come on." Tom answered. "You want me to lead, you let me lead from the front. If this keeps up, good men and women are going to die out there and I can't do a damn thing about it!"

"You've been out of the game for too long Fortnell. It been two years. I don't think you're a good cop anymore." Tom simply sighed. "The fact is, if we let you out there, you're likely to do something reckless, get yourself killed, get other officers killed. You're not the cop you once were Fortnell." With that, Daichi got up and walked away. After a few seconds, Tom yelled and punched the memo board.

* * *

At 8:30am, the guns and ammo had been distributed. There were five roadblocks situated at the most likely paths that Fujima would take, with more officers ready to be dispatched to roadblocks that had come into contact.

"So this is it." Yoriko cradled her 870 shotgun. "It's going to happen."

"Indeed." Saori checked the magazine of her M1 Thompson. She and Yoriko had been assigned to Roadblock 5 along with Ken, Aoi and Chie. "Everyone got ammo?"

"Yes." Ken confirmed as he checked his .357 revolver. "Remember Yoriko, you've got the flare gun, so shoot a flare in the air if we come under fire."

"OK." Yoriko sighed.

"Is everything alright?" Aoi asked his partner.

"I'm OK, it's just..." Yoriko shook. "There's the very real possibility that I might just die out there."

"Don't worry." Aoi comforted. "Just do your best, and you can tell your gossip to the whole station yourself when this is over."

* * *

At 9:00am, the roadblocks were still quiet. Aoi, Yoriko, Ken, Saori and Chie were still at Roadblock 5, joined by another officer who brought more ammo and a 1928-model Thompson, the "gangster" version with a front pistol grip and a 50 round drum magazine. That officer was now keeping watch while the others were mentally preparing themselves for the warfare that was about to come to the streets of the city which they once thought were safe.

"Hey! I got something!" The officer called. The others rose up from behind the row of cars to check out the scene. Several big black SUVs were down the street from them, making their own roadblock. The middle was deserted, a no-man's-land that had the potential to become a deadly death zone.

"What do you want to do?" Saori questioned.

"I'll go out to establish contact, you guys get ready." The officer started to march towards the SUVs. "Now remember the rules of contact. No-one opens fire unless we are fired upon firs..." All of a sudden, a shot rang out and the officer fell on the spot.

"Dammit!" Ken cursed. He saw several mercenaries lined in a row, weapons raised, ready to fire. "GET DOWN!"

The remaining officers quickly complied before the storm of bullets erupted. Yoriko yelped as the mercs began to shoot up their roadblock. Windows were smashed, tires were flattened and the cars were generally wrecked as the mercs continued to shoot at the wall of metal in their way. After about 200 bullets, the firing stopped. There was a tense pause.

Suddenly, Saori and Chie leaped up from behind one of the cars and started spraying their Thompson submachine guns on full automatic at the mercenaries. The mercs started scrambling for cover as the two females brought some of their own automatic fury to bear on the other roadblock. As they marched towards the SUVs, Saori changed the magazine on her gun while Chie kept firing. The 50 round drum magazine of Chie's 1928 model Thompson allowed her to keep firing longer than Saori's WWII military-issue M1 Thomson and its 30 round stick magazine.

A couple of mercenaries then rose up from behind a GMC Yukon as a couple of shots from the pair of policewomen punched into the gas tank. The mercs started spraying their MP5 submachine guns in their general direction. While Saori quickly turned and ran back toward the police roadblock, Chie kept on going. She was determined to prove herself, and as she slammed in another drum magazine, a merc took aim and shot her in the shoulder. She screamed and fell to the ground.

The scream alerted Aoi, who peeked out over the hood of a police cruiser and was shocked at the sight of Chie lying there, bleeding.

"Oh god..." She muttered, before yelling, "We have an officer down!"

"Officer down?" Yoriko asked.

"It's Chie."

Yoriko started breathing rapidly. With shaking hands, she reached for the flare gun, pointed it at the sky and shot a red flare into the air.

* * *

At the command tent back at the precinct, someone noticed the flare going up. "Isn't that... Roadblock 5... The hell?" Other flares began popping up.

Inside, the activity suddenly became more alive. Tom noticing this, asked, "What's going on?"

"Roadblocks have come under fire." Miyuki reported. She and Natsumi, like Tom, had been kept back at the command tent.

"How many hostiles?"

"Appears to be five armed mercenaries at each roadblock, except for Roadblock 5, which appears to have 15 mercs firing on officers..." Miyuki paused as she listened in on comms. "From what I can gather, one officer has already been... Killed... And another... Is wounded."

"Eh?" Tom interrogated. "Who's wounded."

"It's... Chie Sagamiono..."

"Dammit." Tom muttered. "I knew she had something to prove." He looked over at Daichi. The Inspector gulped. Here was a look that said that if he did not allow Fortnell to go out there and rescue his friends, he would kill him with his bare hands and go out there himself.

"Do whatever you need to do." Daichi said.

"Alright." Tom looked out of the tent. "You know what Miyuki? I remember you as being able to drive anything with four or more wheels. Can you still pull it off?"

* * *

Back at the roadblock, the fire was too heavy for the officers to try to go out and rescue Chie. However, during a pause when the mercs stopped to reload, Yoriko was suddenly overcome with determination. She grabbed her shotgun, leaped over the hood of a car and with new-found bravery, started firing the shotgun at the mercs.

"What's she doing?" Ken asked.

"I don't believe it!" Aoi replied. "She's going out to rescue her rival!"

Yoriko pumped the shotgun and continued to fill the SUVs with buckshot. When she reached Chie, she grabbed her hand and pulled her up to her feet.

"What are you..." Chie started.

"Go!" Yoriko cut her off as she fed more rounds into her 870 shotgun. Chie didn't need to be told twice. With one hand gripping her shot shoulder, she ran as fast as she could back to the police roadblock. Yoriko fired two more rounds at the mercenaries, actually managing to hit one. She then turned and ran back to friendly lines as Aoi fired his snub-nose .38 revolver at the mercenaries.

Back behind a police cruiser, Yoriko and Chie were ducking to avoid being taken out by incoming fire.

"I don't know what to say..." Chie panted, shocked at being rescued by her biggest rival.

But before Yoriko could think of something to say, a big diesel engine sound came in. Before anyone had time to ask what was going on, a bus burst through the roadblock and did a slide, coming to rest in the no-man's-land, it's rear facing the mercenaries.

Ken, shocked at the sudden appearance, had only this to say.

"What the... Hell?"

* * *

Sorry for being away for a very long time. Lack of motivation, important events in my life, but I will not abandon this story. I will stick with this story until it is finished!


	12. The Last Stand

Extremely long wait, and for that I am deeply sorry. However, it has gone into making this the best conclusion to the gunfight it can be. Get ready!

* * *

Natsumi swung the rear door of the bus wide open and fed the ammo belt into the big Browning machine gun. Tom yanked the charging handle before he pressed the trigger, letting loose. The .30 MG started chucking out a wall of fire, spraying the street and cutting down two mercenaries who couldn't get to cover fast enough. The rounds cut holes through SUVs, glanced off the tarmac and speared through the gas tank of one of the vehicles.

Once 50 rounds had been fired off, Tom stopped shooting.

"Welcome to Bokuto." He spoke.

The firing started again. The Bokuto officers were invigorated by the new arrival and started shooting back at the mercenaries, matching their fire round for round.

"Miyuki!" Natsumi yelled down the bus.

"Gotcha!" Miyuki replied. She dashed out of the driver's seat and started slinging fire at the mercenaries with her M1 Garand rifle. Her deadly accurate fire finished off one more bad guy as Natsumi picked up a Thompson and gave some fire of her own. Meanwhile, Tom had made his way out of the bus and to the police roadblock.

"So, anything new?" He asked as he fired his M1911 handgun over the hood of a patrol car.

"We rescued Chie." Aoi reported. "She'll make it."

"Well that's..." Tom was cut off by a bullet striking the roof of a car, causing him to duck down.

"What is that?" Chie asked.

Tom, experienced in combat, immediately knew what was up. "We have a sniper guys!" Looking up at the rooftops, he could make out a black-clad merc with an M14 rifle on the roof of one building. He needed to come up with a plan.

"What now Fortnell?" Ken questioned.

"OK Ken, I need you to get up there and take out that sniper!" Tom risked a look over the hood of the car and saw a building he could take cover in. "I'm gonna dash for the garage there, the one with the Zapper sign! The rest of you, we need covering fire!"

"Yes sir!" Yoriko saluted.

"On three! One! Two! THREE!" Ken and Tom leaped over the patrol car and began a mad dash across the no-man's-land. The other officers rose up and fired all they had at the mercenaries, forcing them to take cover from the incoming heavy fire. Ken ran into an alley, while Tom picked up an M4 Carbine from a fallen merc and ran like an Olympic sprinter to the garage.

There was an almighty crash as Tom jumped straight through the closed door, knocking it down as he landed on the floor in the garage. There was a short pause as he groaned.

"Oh, hey there Tom." Daimaru said. He and Sena had been taking cover when they heard the sounds of gunfire outside. "It's been a while since we last saw you. How are you doing?"

"For a guy who's been dead for two years and then jumps through a door?" Tom answered as he got up off the floor. "Yeah, I'm just fine!"

* * *

Outside, the battle was still raging. The sniper was standing up on a rooftop, looking through the long-range sight on his rifle. He saw his chance to take out one of the officers and lined up his crosshairs on a black ponytailed female officer with an old rifle. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he heard a yelling behind him. He turned around to find Ken charging at him. He swung around, but before he could bring his M14 to bear, Ken tacked him and they both fell off the rooftop. The two men fell two stories, the sniper landing on a parked car with Ken on top of him. Ken knocked the sniper out with a punch to the head, before getting up and running to the bus.

"You OK?" He asked Miyuki, who was taking cover behind the bus.

"Yeah, I'm good!" Miyuki responded as she loaded another clip in her Garand.

"I could've sworn that sniper was about to take you out!" Ken swore.

"Well, thanks for saving me there."

"Gee, I..." Ken was cut off by a kiss from Miyuki, a kiss interrupted by Natsumi.

"Guys! No time for getting intimate!" She yelled while spraying her Thompson on full-auto.

"Let's get back to the battle, huh?" Miyuki asked the now shocked bike trooper.

"Uh, I guess so." Ken picked up a Type 100 submachine gun and joined the women in shooting at the mercs.

"So where did Tom go anyway?" Natsumi asked, wincing as a bullet struck the bus a little close.

"I think he went into the garage for cover." Ken replied.

"The garage?" Miyuki looked over towards Zapper, Tom now standing in the doorway giving some fire of his own.

"I think he got reacquainted with Ken's father and mother-in-law..." Natsumi commented.

* * *

Tom took a little pause from firing to look at the roadblock. There were now ten mercenaries still shooting. However, he could see that the bullets which had impacted a GMC Yukon had caused some holes in the gas tank, which was now leaking fuel onto the tarmac.

"Guys?" He called back to Daimaru and Sena. "I need to rig something up, you got supplies?"

"I think so!" Daimaru shouted from behind a table. "What do you need?"

"Let's try a bottle, some gasoline and a rag..."

* * *

The firefight was still raging on. Reinforcements from the other roadblocks had now arrived to push back the mercs. Among those was Detective Tokuno, who had picked up an M3 Grease Gun and was busy suppressing the mercenaries. Even Kachou was joining in the firing.

"Just like the Hachi-Ichi-Go incident, huh?" Tokuno remarked.

"Yeah, but..." Kachou wondered. "Isn't that Tom over there?"

Tom had now reappeared in the doorway. While the police and the mercs were fighting, he'd gone in for supplies and had managed to manufacture a Molotov cocktail, a small improvised incendiary grenade, with Daimaru's help. He took aim and threw the bottle, filled with gasoline and with a flaming rag in the bottleneck, at the fuel spill. However, he missed, but Natsumi noticed the tactic.

"Hey, are the flares these flare guns fire extremely hot?" Natsumi wondered.

"Yes, I'd imagine so. Why?" Miyuki was expecting an explanation, but was shocked when Natsumi yanked out her flare gun, ran out from the bus and fired a flare at the fuel spill. The flare landed on the spill, immediately setting it alight. The flames quickly spread to the gas tank, which still had some fuel left in it, and the SUV exploded. It was tossed up in the air, coming back down on its roof.

"Boom, yeah!" Natsumi celebrated before casting aside the flare gun and beginning to fire with a .357 revolver.

"Well who expected that?" Miyuki said to herself. She looked over at Tom who nodded. She then tapped Natsumi on the shoulder. Both women looked at each other, before they started running towards the mercenary roadblock. Tom ran out from Zapper to join them. They started firing all they had at the mercs, who didn't stand a chance as the fire from the man and two women took down quite a few. By the time they reached the hole once occupied by the wrecked SUV, most of the mercenaries were wounded or dead. Quickly subduing the remaining bad guys, they saw Daisuke Sato, sitting on the tarmac, leaning against a pickup. He had been shot in the stomach, and looked up at the three officers standing over him.

"You may have won this battle..." He coughed. "But you'll never catch the boss." He bowed his head, fully expecting it to all end suddenly. Instead, when the end he expected didn't come, he looked up to find Miyuki and Natsumi pointing their revolvers at him.

"You're under arrest." They said in unison.

* * *

Back at the tent, the police officers were congratulating themselves on a job well done. The wounded, such as Chie were now getting medical treatment.

"Hey." Someone tapped Natsumi on the shoulder. She turned around to find Shouji standing there with a smile on his face.

"How did you...?" She asked.

"Well, last night, the mercs ambushed our convoy and killed the other SAT operators. I managed to survive by playing dead until they left, then sneaking out and taking shelter in someone's home."

Shouji did not need to say anything more, as Natsumi jumped up and gave him the biggest hug of his life.

* * *

In another part of the command tent, Tom was sitting by himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daichi coming towards him.

"What now?" He said, voice cynical. "What, you gonna file a complaint? Say I'm an idiot for disobeying orders?"

"No." Daichi answered. "If anyone's the idiot, it's me. I heard what you did out there. I was wrong, you're a good cop. You know, the NPA might give you a promotion to Sergeant..."

"No thanks." Tom refused. "If there's anything I'd rather be doing in the police, it's working street patrol in Traffic."

"Can't say I didn't try." Daichi noticed how Tom was looking down at the ground. "Is there anything wrong?"

"I dunno, it's just..." Tom paused and stared out of the tent. "I just can't shake the feeling that we've forgotten something..."

"Like what?"

"Something big..."

Almost exactly on cue, a rev echoed throughout the tent. All conversation stopped and everyone looked outside. Tom got to his feet and started walking out as another rev called the officers out of the tent. It sounded like an American V8, and Tom knew what that sound belonged to even before he was outside and saw the Corvette ZR1 just up the street.

"Fujima..." Tom muttered as the others came outside to see the American supercar. All of a sudden, Fujima floored it and took off, burning out all the way down the street. The tense atmosphere suddenly turned frantic, as officers scrambled to their patrol cars. Tom meanwhile, calmly marched back to the command tent. He took a look at Natsumi and Miyuki before they rushed to their Today to take up pursuit. The sound of police sirens filled the air as the first of many police cruisers rushed out of the precinct to chase the wanted fugitive.

"What are you going to do Tom?" Daichi asked.

"I don't know." Tom replied.

"Well, is there anything you want to say?"

Tom looked over to find his bright red Camaro ZL1 resting in a parking space.

"He's mine."

* * *

Moving fast, the Corvette ZR1 attacked the road as it made its way towards the docks. The swarm of police cruisers behind it was barely keeping pace. On the open highway, Fujima could simply floor it and leave the cops eating dust like with the Highway Patrol. However, in the city, he could not get his Chevy Corvette up to speed because he'd have to slow down again because of traffic or corners. Not to mention that the Bokuto officers knew the streets. Fujima swerved to avoid a patrol car that had come screeching in from a side street.

As he swerved into an alley, Miyuki slid her Today in behind the big ZR1. As they shot out of the alley and onto a wide street, she saw her chance and lit up the nitro, sending the tiny mini-pat past 160km/h (100mph). Fujima saw the little Honda come up beside the Chevrolet.

"Oh, so you want to play, huh?" He commented, before slamming the throttle to the floor. Sure, the Today was fast when it was being nitro-boosted, but the Corvette had a lot more power. Miyuki could hardly believe what she was seeing, the Corvette pulling ahead even when she had all of her nitro boosting the little engine. She knew she couldn't go on for much longer before she had to fall back or risk blowing the finely-tuned engine.

All of a sudden, Fujima smirked and eased off on the throttle, causing the Today to get ahead. Miyuki seized the opportunity and slid the mini-pat so that it was perpendicular to the Corvette's front.

"Natsumi!" Miyuki said to her partner. Natsumi knew what was going on and swung the door open before putting her feet on the ground to perform a Tsujimoto foot brake. Suddenly, Miyuki felt a jolt and looked over to see Fujima spearing the Corvette underneath the Today. He floored it, pushing the little mini-pat onto the Chevrolet's hood. Natsumi had to hang on as the vehicle tilted, if she hadn't been wearing her seatbelt, she would've been thrown out of the car.

Miyuki knew that if Fujima pushed harder, he could tip the Today past its center of gravity and cause the car to roll. She tried slamming down the throttle to break free, but the Corvette was still pushing the little Honda along.

"Now what?" Fujima taunted. Miyuki searched around desperately. She found Natsumi's .357 revolver and grabbed it. She pointed it out of the window without looking and squeezed the trigger. Normally, she wouldn't have fired because she couldn't risk hitting Kinoshita. However, the situation was desperate, and fortunately, the gun didn't fire. Fujima, seeing the gun, immediately slammed on the brakes, causing the Today to slide off the hood and back onto its wheels. Fujima immediately peeled out, leaving the Today and its occupants sitting in the road.

Natsumi and Miyuki were both panting after their harrowing experience.

"Oh man..." Natsumi commented. Miyuki simply looked out of the window at the fleeing Corvette.

* * *

Fujima now started to relax a bit having dealt with the officers in the tiny Honda. He actually started to chuckle a little.

"What's so funny?" Kinoshita asked from the passenger seat.

"It's funny that the police are pouring all of their resources into stopping me when they have no chance." Fujima explained. "They should've taken the hint and left me alone in Osaka." He started to accelerate again. "Now, by the time they shut down the docks, we'll be on a boat on the river, heading towards international waters. We're home free..."

An almighty crash interrupted Fujima and both occupants of the car were jolted as the Corvette recoiled from a sideswipe.

"What the f..."

Fujima saw that a Victory Red Camaro ZL1 had rammed into the Corvette, and was now sliding as the driver floored it to catch up to the Cyber Gray ZR1.

"You just can't stay dead, can you? If you want a fight, let's go!"

* * *

Again, I apologize for the stupid wait. There's now only about two or three chapters to go until the end, plus I have updated the previous chapter. Why don't you check it out? Until next time!


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